Behind the Hero
by DreamonAlina
Summary: Behind every great hero is a person that's helped them achieve success. Madeline Beckett? Not the best person to pick. Especially when she has no clue-and doesn't really care-about the superhero whose life and destiny apparently depended on her-Spider-Man. More detailed summary inside. TASM movieverse. Peter/OC. SEQUEL (Behind the Guide) NOW POSTED!
1. Who is Peter Parker?

**Disclaimer: **I do not own the Amazing Spider-Man! I just own my OC, "Madeline Beckett" and any other characters I make up along the way!

**Summary: **Madeline Beckett doesn't know-or care-about Spider-Man. All she knows is that her three brothers are obsessed with him. But what will happen, after falling asleep while her brothers watched The Amazing Spider-Man, when she wakes up in the Big Apple, in the world of Spider-Man? TASM movieverse.

**Author's Note: **I literally have no idea where this story came from. I think I saw an ASM2 gifset on Tumblr, then I googled Gwen Stacy, and then Mary Jane, and now here I am...

Anyways! Don't know what's gonna happen in this fic-it's really one of those "spur of the moment" decisions, so please bear with me!

Let's just see how this goes...

**Enjoy!**

* * *

_**7 Year Old Madeline's POV...**_

"But I don't _wanna_ go meet Spider-Man!" I whined.

"I know baby," My Dad said, tightening his grip on my hand. "But your mom is with her friends, and your brothers wanted to go to the convention this weekend and I completely forgot that this was the weekend mommy was going away with her friends."

I huffed and buried my face into his shoulder. My dumb older brothers! I had _three_ of them: the oldest was Mike, who was 13. Then it was Paul, who was 11, and Ian, who was ten.

In my opinion, they were all poopyheads.

"Dad! There he is!" Mike exclaimed. "There's Spider-Man!"

There was a big line up when we got there, but we actually stood in the line for a long time just so the boys could meet Spider-Man.

I'd admit it though. Once we got there, I was completely enthralled by Spider-Man. He just looked so cool!

My brothers immediately ran up to him so that a man who worked there could take a picture. My dad set me down on the ground and knelt next to me. "Maddie, do you want to be in the picture too?"

I just stared at my toes until I heard a different voice. "Come on, Maddie. This picture wouldn't be right without you."

I looked up, and saw that Spider-Man was talking to _me_. My eyes wide, I walked over to him. He knelt down in front of me.

"What do you say?" He asked. "Do you want to be in the picture?"

And the only words that could come out of my mouth are, "Are you the real Spider-Man?"

"What do you think?"

"I think you are," I said innocently.

"Do you trust me?" He asked.

I was quiet for a minute before I mumbled, "Yes."

Even though he was wearing a mask, I swear I saw him smile. "Then you can stand right in front of me, Maddie."

I did as he said. Mike was on my left, Paul on my right, and Ian on his right. Spider-Man crouched down next to us.

"Say, cheese!" The camera man said.

"Cheese!"

* * *

_**17 Year Old Madeline's POV...**_

"I've found the movie!" Ian said, pulling the DVD case out of our Marvel movies box.

"What are we watching?" My mom, Sharon, asked as she came over and sat down next to me.

"I said that we should watch Shrek, but it's Ian's turn to pick the movie tonight," I sighed.

"So what _are_ we watching?" Abbi, Paul's girlfriend, asked as she and Paul came down the stairs.

"The Amazing Spider-Man," Ian said as he popped the DVD into the DVD player.

"Oh come _on_!" I protested. "Anything but Spider-Man. Hell, I'd watch Iron Man instead!"

"What do you have against Spider-Man?" Ian asked as he came and sat down next to me.

"The idea is so ridiculous!" I said. "A guy gets bitten by a radioactive spider? It's stupid!"

"It's _brilliant_," Paul said as he and Abbi settled down on the floor, since there was no room on the couch anymore.

"Come _on_! Emma Stone in this movie looks nothing like that chick Mary whatever!" I said.

That was followed by very dramatic gasps from everyone in the room. "What?" I asked, clearly confused.

"That is not Mary Jane!" Ian declared.

"That is Gwen Stacy," Abbi said.

"Who everybody knows is a hundred times better than Mary Jane," Paul finished.

"I thought you loved Mary Jane," I said to Paul.

"No, that's Mike."

Mike would have been here, but he had to work tonight. Every cent that he makes goes to his tuition fees, so he'd been snapping up shift opportunities at the Starbucks where he works every time.

"Whatever! Abbi, back me up here!" I requested her.

"Actually, I love the Amazing Spider-Man!" She gushed. "Andrew Garfield is incredible."

"Boyfriend, sitting right beside you," Paul reminded, putting his forehead onto her temple.

"That's not what I meant," She laughed. "Oh, I can't wait for the sequel to come out!"

"I'm going to claw my brains out," I muttered, slumping against the couch.

"Don't be such a downer," Sharon nudged me.

"Whatever," I said. "If you all need me, I'll be sleeping." I closed my eyes just as the opening credits started. And sure enough, I was sound asleep.

When I woke up, however, there was no one in the living room. I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes, to see if this was just a dream, but when I took my hands away from my eyes, there was still nobody here. My Dad, my Mom, Paul, Abbi, and Ian were all gone.

"Where is everybody?" I called out. I saw the television was still on, the credits rolling. I rolled my eyes. Of course my family ditches me in the living room to go to bed and forget to turn off the TV.

I pushed myself off of the couch and went over to the TV. I tried to take the disk out, and when I saw tried, I meant that the thing freaking _shocked _me when I touched it. I brushed it off as static electricity and tried again. Same result.

This time, I just decided to turn the TV off and unplug the player. When I touched the TV's off button, though, my hand wouldn't come back, no matter how bad I pulled. It was like my hand was glued to the screen.

"Let...go!" I stuttered. I called up to my family, "Someone want to give me hand?"

There was no answer, and I was starting to get desperate. "What the hell is happening?" I asked myself.

Stupidly, I placed my free hand on the television screen to try and push myself off. It was too late when I realized that my other hand was stuck now too. I started screaming for help, and to my horror, my hand started moving inwards into the TV, and I felt a tugging on my hands.

"What the hell is going on?! Somebody help!" I screamed desperately.

My hopeless screams went unnoticed as I was sucked into the television, the blackness completely taking over.

* * *

I finally managed to get my eyes open again, and when I did, I was _not_ in my living room anymore.

I was in the streets of...somewhere. I know it was a city-there are buildings and people and cars _everywhere_. It was quite of an alarming change, especially since I was from Idaho, a relatively boring state.

I was still trying to piece together where I was when I heard about fifty different car horns honking and a full spin around made me realize where I was _at the moment._

I was in the middle of the road.

A _very busy road._

How the hell did I manage to get here? Of course, only Madeline Beckett could get magically sucked into a television set and wake up in the middle of a busy street.

I was like a deer caught in headlights. I couldn't breathe, let alone move. But cars were coming at me like crazy, and when it finally hit me to _move_, I felt something push into my side, hard.

Whatever it was, it did the trick. I was officially out of the road, and safely on the crowded sidewalk.

I heard some rather rude comments coming from the cars that almost killed me, but I wasn't focused on that at all. I was focused on the tousled, brown haired boy that had just saved my life.

When he pushed me over and on to the ground, he had managed to land right on top of me. He was panting rather heavily, as if he had ran a mile to get here, which he might have. "Are you crazy? What were you doing in the middle of the street?"

I was too focused on his gorgeous, dark brown eyes to say anything at first. When I came back into focus, I just slightly shook my head. "What?" I said.

The boy pushed himself off of me before standing up. He extended a hand towards me. I took it, and he helped me stand up.

"What were you doing in the middle of the street, Madeline?" He asked.

Whoa, the hot guy knows my name? Well, he was cute, but in a more nerdy sense, which _I_ found hot. And at least I had the same name.

Wait, he asked me a question! Uhh... "I was trying to save a cat."

Was that really the best I could come up with?

"A...cat," Cute Guy said.

I nodded quickly. "Yup, a cat! It ran right into the middle of the street, and well, I saw, and I couldn't just let it die, so I ran to try and save it."

"And then you just stood in the middle of the street?" He asked.

You were not good at this, Mads. "I've been having an off day."

"Right. Well, saving that cat does sound like you, Mads," Cute Guy said.

Okay, how did this guy know me?

"Do I know you?" I eventually asked.

"Peter? Peter Parker? We've been next door neighbours since we were, like, five?" Cute Guy-or, Peter Parker said, trying to refresh my 'memory'. I felt really bad not knowing who he was, because he looked kinda disappointed that I didn't know who he was.

Peter Parker. Why was that name so familiar?

"Right!" I said. Let's see if I could manage to pass this off. "Sorry, Peter. The adrenaline just kinda, took over my brain."

"I can see that," Peter said with a laugh. His face was familiar too. There's just something about it.

"Madeline! Maddie!" I heard a female voice behind me, and I turned around to see a woman, maybe in her forties, running towards me, a little girl in tow.

"Hey, Mrs. Beckett," Peter said, and I eventually deduced that this woman was obviously my 'mother'. The little girl was probably my sister.

My 'mom' wrapped her arms around me tightly. "Oh, sweetie! I saw you standing in the road!" She pulled back. "What happened? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," I assured her. I looked over at Peter. "Thanks to Peter."

My mother gushed. "Peter, thank you so much!"

"It was nothing, really, Mrs. Beckett," Peter tried to tell her.

"Peter, we've known each other for quite some time. How many times must I tell you to call me Shelia?" Shelia asked him.

"Right. It was nothing, _Shelia_," He said pointedly.

"It was not nothing. You saved my little girl's life," She said, wrapping her arm around me, and squeezing me into her side. I forced a smile.

Her eyes lit up. "I know! You should come to dinner some time."

"Mom!" I protested. I hardly knew this kid! Well, it seemed like we actually did know each other, but he knew me better than I did him, and I didn't like that disadvantage. I realized the way I said it might have been considered rude, so I quickly added, "I'm sure Peter doesn't want to come over to our place for dinner."

"Nonsense!" Shelia protested. "I was going to invite May and Ben to dinner anyways. I'm going to finish the groceries, and then come meet me." She wagged a finger in my direction. "And no more walking on the roads, understand?"

"Perfectly," I said, wanting nothing more than to devour myself inwards. Shelia and my sister (whose name I still didn't know) walked off and that just left Peter and me.

"You don't have to come to dinner if you don't want to," I told him. I don't want him to feel all awkward.

"That's okay," He said, waving it off. "If she was going to invite May and Ben anyways, they probably would have dragged me along. And besides, it'll be like old times."

Old times? Were we friends? Great, now I felt horrible and I had no idea why.

"So," I started slowly. "I should probably get back to her," I said. If I had hopes of finding my way back home. Well, to a house, where I'd have a roof over my head and some food.

"Yeah," Peter said. "I'll see you at school?"

School? Ugh, perfect.

"Definitely," I replied, giving a little wave before turning around. I looked behind me for a second to see Peter staring at me, and when he saw that I caught him staring at me, he quickly whipped around and bumped into a pole.

I gasped, but couldn't help the giggle that came from inside of me as he regained his composure. I just shook my head and turned around. It was when I had finally gotten back to Shelia did I remember why he was so familiar.

He looked exactly like Andrew Garfield.

But his name _wasn't_ Andrew Garfield.

His name was Peter Parker.

* * *

**TBC...**

**Yeah, it's only a little bit, but I'm definitely going to be working on this a lot. Since there are only two movies, it should be fairly quick to catch up to them.**

**Anyways,**

**REVIEW! FOLLOW! FAVOURITE! THANKS! STAY TUNED!**


	2. Developments

**Disclaimer: **I do not own the Amazing Spider-Man! I just own my OC, "Madeline Beckett" and any other characters I make up along the way!

**Author's Note: **I really like the response I've been getting! I wasn't too sure at first, but you guys seem to like it! So let's see how the rest goes...

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Peter-Man...no, that wasn't right. Spider-Parker? No, that wasn't right either...

Those were the only thoughts that I had as we drove back home in the taxi. Once I caught sight of the statue of Liberty, I knew that I was in New York City. Wasn't that where the movie takes place?

_Maybe it's Parker-Man, _I thought to myself as I entered the house that we live in. I yelped at the golden retriever rushing towards me, but I quickly got over it as I set the bags on the counter.

"I'm going to get dinner started," Shelia said as the six year old girl-whose name I'd learned was Sara-ran into the living room and turned the television on.

"I'll be in my room if anyone needs me!" I called out and ran up the stairs to see if I could call Mike or Paul or even Ian!

But maybe you couldn't place calls to other dimensions.

"What was Paul's number?" I thought aloud as I looked for my bed room. There were only three- Sheila's, Sara's, and mine. The first room looked like it belonged to an old person, so that was definitely Shelia's. The next room had a lot of pink and stuffed animals, so that was Sara's. And that meant the last one was mine.

"647-224-54...63? No, 62..." I mumbled as I opened the door.

And what I saw made me scream at the top of my lungs.

Eddie Murphy was sitting on my bed.

Why wasn't my day getting any better?

"Madeline? Madeline!" I heard Shelia's shouts. I turned around as the door swung open. "What happened?" She asked.

I spun around to point at my bed, but there was nothing there. No sign of Eddie Murphy. "I, uh...I thought I saw a...spider."

She sighed. "Thank God! I thought you were being killed or something." Shelia chuckled to herself as I grabbed the doorknob and shut it behind her.

I turned back around, and there was Eddie Murphy again. Instead of screaming, I just pushed myself against the door. "Why are you here? Who are you? Well, I know who you are, but why are you here?"

"Hmm," He said, getting off of my bed and starting to look around the bedroom. "Think of me as your mentor."

"Mentor for what?" I asked.

"Well, for your time here," Eddie said, tinkering with a knick knack I had on a shelf. "Nice room you got here."

"Thanks," I breathed out. "What do you mean, my time here? Is this really the world of Spider-Peter?"

"It's Spider-_Man_," Eddie corrected. "And yes, you are. You're here, to help guide Peter Parker."

"Guide him where?"

"To the path of Spider-Man," He answered, picking up a photo album.

"How am I supposed to guide him to the path of Spider-Man if I have no idea who he is?" I asked him, and I finally got brave enough to march over to him. I grabbed the photo album out of his hands, and I was about to close it when I saw me and Emma Stone in a picture together.

"Why am I in a picture with Emma Stone?!" I exclaimed. It wasn't like a "fan meeting a celebrity" picture either. We each had one arm wrapped around each other, and it looked like I was holding a camera as I snapped the picture. We looked very...natural, as if I had randomly decided to take a picture.

"That's because she's not Emma Stone here," Eddie answered. He tapped the picture. "She's Gwen Stacy."

"So, not Mary Jane?" I asked, remembering the conversation that my family and I had had before they watched the movie. Now I was kicking myself over the fact that I fell asleep while watching the movie.

"No, not Mary Jane. You and Gwen Stacy have been best friends since middle school," Eddie answered.

And that was when I realized that I was _talking to Eddie Murphy._ Even then, he was probably just a figment of my imagination! "Are you real?"

He just smiled knowingly. "What do you think?"

I scoffed. "I think I'm going crazy, that's what I think," I said, slamming the album shut before tossing it on my bed. I looked around and saw that I actually had a lot more pictures of Gwen Stacy and I. And a _lot _of newspaper clippings. Some of them with my name as the writer.

"You want to be a journalist here," Eddie informed me, obviously sensing my interest to the newspaper. "You write for your high school's newspaper."

"I wanted to be a journalist back home," I commented, and I turned around to face Eddie.

"A lot of the things you did in your old world was transferred here," Eddie said. "Like your love for science. You work as an Intern at Oscorp with Gwen."

I asked the question that had been bothering me since he materialized. "Why are you Eddie Murphy?"

He shrugged. "You wanted to watch Shrek instead of the Amazing Spider-Man, so this is the form I took on."

"You mean you can take on other forms?" I asked.

Eddie nodded. "Of course."

"So, if you can take on other forms, then that means that you're not real. I thought you were real."

"No one can see me except you."

"So you're not real?"

"I didn't say that."

"Ugh!" I groaned, throwing my hands up. "Whatever! Just, how do I get home?" I questioned, putting my hands on my hips.

Eddie grimaced a bit. "That's the thing. You don't."

"What do you mean, I don't?" I asked, taking a step forwards.

"See, you're here to help Peter. We don't know how long that's gonna take. You could be here for a week, or for five years."

"Five years?" I gasped. "Do you mean five years this time, or my time?"

Before he could answer my question, Eddie dematerialized just as easily as he had rematerialized.

"Hey! Wait! You have to answer my question!" I shouted into nothing.

My bedroom door opened, and Sara poked her head in. "Who are you talking to?"

"No one," I dismissed. "Just get out."

She backed up, and shut the door behind her. I pushed my hands into my hair to try and wrap my head around all of this.

So, I was here to help lead Peter Parker onto the path of Spider-Man? Why didn't whoever placed me here pick Ian? Or Paul? Or even Mike! Those three know more about superheroes than I did! Don't even get me started on when they were all together.

I was pacing around my room when I stopped in front of my window, and I saw the back of someone. I walked over to the window and opened it. Poking my head out, I saw that the person was actually Peter Parker.

That's right! He mentioned something about the two of us being next door neighbours.

I didn't want to seem creepy, so I quickly closed my window before pulling the curtains together. Before I knew it, Shelia was calling me down for dinner.

Exactly how long were Eddie Murphy and I talking?

* * *

The next morning, I was rudely woken up. And no, not by my alarm clock.

"Rise and shine, Madeline!" Eddie shouted at my ear, and I bolted awake with a scream, falling out of bed.

"Hey look! That actually rhymed!" Eddie pointed out, very pleased with himself.

I groaned as I curled up into a ball, covering my face with my arms. "Jeez, no _wonder_ Shrek found you so annoying."

"Get up, Mads! It's time for school!"

"But I don't want to go to school!"

"But you have to!"

"Look, the way I see it is that I just got dumped into the world of a comic turned movie so I don't have to do anything that I don't want to do. Now, get lost!" I said, and at the last part I uncurled myself and sat up. To my surprise, he was gone.

"Ha! Nothing has control over Madeline Beckett," I smirked in victory.

My bedroom door opened, and Shelia walked in. "Honey, who are you talking to?" She asked, and registered that I was on the ground. "And why are you on the floor?"

"Long story," I said. "I think I'm in-I think I _had_ a nightmare."

"Well, get up, get ready for school," Shelia said, shutting the door behind her.

I groaned, burying my face in my arms. Eventually, I pulled myself off of the ground before taking a quick shower. I pulled on a flowery dress, a beige net cardigan, and brown boots before starting on my accessories.

I went and stood in front of the mirror to fix my hair and screamed when I saw a face in the mirror that wasn't mine.

Shelia came busting in. "Madeline! Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Just another spider," I dismissed when the figure in the mirror went away. It came back when she left, though.

Fuming, I spun around to face Eddie. "Stop doing that! My mom's gonna think I'm going insane."

"She's not your mother, really," Eddie said as I pinned my hair up.

"Whatever! I need a place to sleep and I've decided that that place isn't going to be a mental asylum."

Eddie wandered over to the window, where I had spread open the windows to let in the morning light. "Peter's about to leave for school," He randomly says.

"And your point is?" I asked as I applied a bit of mascara.

"Walk with him," Eddie suggested.

"Yeah, like that's going to happen," I said as I grabbed my book bag.

"It's going to," He said.

"Oh yeah?" I asked sarcastically. "What are you gonna do, huh? Only I can see you!"

He grinned wickedly. "Exactly!"

Before I knew it, he had walked right for me, and I thought that he was going to bump into me. Oh, he didn't do that. He took over my body.

I don't know what's going on with me, but he somehow managed to control my movements. Against my will, he moved me towards the window. I pulled it open, and poked my head out. "Peter!" He made me call out. "Peter!"

I called his name one more time, and that finally got his attention. He walked over to his window before he opened it. "Madeline?"

"Yeah!" I shouted. "Do you wanna walk to school with me today?"

Poor Peter looked really confused. "You want me to walk with you?"

"Yeah," Eddie made me call out, while the whole time on the inside, I was screaming "No! No! No!"

He looked kind of unsure, but then Eddie put the icing on the cake. "Please?" He made me say.

That is what did it for Peter. "Okay, I'll be right there!"

"Great!" I said, and I pulled back and shut the window before closing the blinds. And that's when Eddie came out of my body.

I was heaving when he did. I guess it was because I was fighting so hard to be let out. "What the hell did you just do?!" I stormed.

"_I_ didn't do anything," Eddie said. "But _you_ have to walk to school with Peter Parker today."

"I don't wanna walk to school with Peter Parker!" I protested.

"But you have to!"

"Why?"

"Because it'd be rude."

"Rude? I'm not cancelling a walk with Peter Parker because I don't want to seem _rude_?"

"Yes."

Really? Is that all he got? "I'm not walking with Peter Parker," I said stubbornly, crossing my arms.

"Either you walk with Peter Parker, or I possess your body again and make you kiss him," Eddie threatened.

"But wouldn't that be you kissing him?" I asked.

"Nope. I'd leave your body right before your lips touched his. Try explaining that."

I was thinking about it when Shelia's voice called up, "Mads! Peter's here!"

I huffed before waving a threatening finger in Eddie's direction. "You win this time."

"I'm gonna win every time, I hope you realize that."

I just growled as I grabbed my book bag off of my chair. I left my room, and walked down the stairs into the kitchen.

"You're walking to school with Peter Parker this morning?" She asked me as she handed me a twenty dollar bill for lunch. She looked just as surprised as I was when Eddie possessed my body.

"Yeah," I said. Not really my choice, but whatever. "I'll see you after school."

I took a deep breath before stepping outside, where Peter was waiting on the front porch. He smiled so brightly at me when I walked out that I couldn't help but smile back. "Hey," He said.

"Hi," I answered. A small awkward silence ensued, so I leaned back on the balls of my feet. "So, shall we go?"

"Yeah, sure," Peter answered, and the two of us turned and began the walk to school. I actually had no idea where this school was, so I was really just following Peter.

It was quiet for a second until Peter spoke up, "To be honest, I was kind of surprise when you asked me to walk with you, Mads."

Trust me buddy, I was just as surprised as you. "Oh, yeah?" I asked, and he nodded. "Why?"

"Well, we _did_ kind of stop talking," He answered.

What happened to Peter Parker and I? Were we friends? Ex's? What is my history with Spider-Man?

"I know, and I'm sorry," I said, though I wasn't really sure what I was sorry about.

"Mention when he saved you yesterday," Eddie quietly whispered to me, suddenly appearing next to me. Only I could see him, of course.

"It's just, when you saved me the other day, it got me thinking," I said, going on with what Eddie said.

"Got you thinking what?" He asked.

That was not a question I wanted.

_Now what?_ I angrily asked Eddie.

"Tell him that you remember him breaking your fall when you fell out of the tree when you guys were ten," Eddie muttered.

Peter saved me? Aw, that's cute! Ack, what was I saying?

"It got me thinking about, when we were kids," I started. Eddie clearly knew more than I did. "You saved me when I fell out of that tree?"

"Oh, that?" He said. "Yeah, that was...that was nothing."

"It was _not_ nothing," Eddie whispered to me. "He broke his arm when you fell on it."

"It was _not_ nothing. You broke your arm!" I said in disbelief. Peter suffered a broken arm because of...because of me?

We were close to a building, which was probably the school. "You're...you're always saving me, aren't you, Parker?" I asked as we came to a stop.

"I wouldn't call it that," Peter shrugged.

"Then what would you call it?" I asked, intrigued now.

Peter shuffled his feet as he studied his shoe. "I don't know..."

"No, tell me," I said, and before I could process what I was going, I was touching his arm. Peter looked over at the spot where my hand rested, and I hesitated a second before I pulled my hand away.

"I guess," Peter started slowly, after a moment of awkward silence. "That I was just in the right place at the right time."

I smiled gently. "Well, I hope that next time you're in the right place."

Peter grinned. "Next time? Are you intentionally putting yourself in danger?"

My smile quickly dropped. "No! No, no, no, no! I just meant that, in case I were to end up in danger again, I'd hope that you were the one that would help me."

He laughed. "Okay, whatever you say, Madeline." Peter quickly checked the watch he had on his wrist and winced. "Sorry to cut this short, but I have to go. I have something to do."

"Oh," I said, surprising myself when I felt slightly disappointed that we couldn't talk longer. "Well, I see you around?"

"Yeah," He said, quickly nodding. He turned around and walked off, and believe me when I say that I couldn't help but watch him walk away.

"Girl, you are _totally_ checking him out," Eddie's voice said into my ear.

I was taken aback with the comment. I mean technically, I was, but that's not how I intended it at all! "No, I wasn't."

"Yes, you were."

"No, I wasn't."

"Yes, you were."

"Ugh! I don't have to take this from you. _You're_ a figment of my imagination. Now, be gone! Or however it is I get rid of you."

"Heads up. GS, three o'clock," Eddie whispered before vanishing.

GS? What the hell did he mean...

"Maddie! Mads!" I heard a new voice, and I turned around just in time to see a blonde figure crashing into my side.

"Okay," I grunted as the blonde figure-whom I'd identified as a female- hugged me as tightly as she could.

She pulled back and my jaw almost dropped at the sight of Emma Stone standing right in front of me.

Or, she was Gwen Stacy here, wasn't she?

GS. _Gwen Stacy_. Thanks for the heads up, I guess, Eddie.

"I heard that you almost got run over the other day, why didn't you tell me?" Gwen asked, pulling me into another hug.

"Well," I said, wrapping my arms around her awkwardly. I still couldn't look past the Emma Stone part just yet. "It was a crazy day. I guess I just forgot."

"Forgot to tell your best friend that you almost died?!" She exclaimed, but quickly wiped the look of worry on her face. "You know what? Never mind." She spun around so that she was standing on my right side and looped her arm through mine. "As long as you're safe, that's all that matters."

Gwen and I then walked to class, her chattering away at what she did over the day. I wasn't really paying attention, though. I wasn't sure why. But as long as Gwen was around, Eddie wasn't, so I was just trying to focus on that.

But Gwen and I didn't have all of our classes together, so the first class that we didn't have together, I was holding my breath all period, anticipating Eddie's arrival. This was _school_. Home, I could put up with the embarrassment of screaming at nothing. Here? I didn't dare.

* * *

The only plus side to my day so far (other than my walk with Peter, which over time, I was realizing that I kind of enjoyed) was that it was finally lunch. I didn't really wanna sit with Gwen (the whole Emma Stone thing was still freaking me out) so I made it a point to find a secluded area after I bought my lunch.

I quickly learned that no matter where you live in America (even through dimensions) the cafeteria food sucked, so I just stuck to my ice cold bottle of lemonade and munched away on my apple.

I stuck a pair of headphones in, and turned the music up as I pulled out a piece of paper. I quickly wrote _Spider-Man_ at the top.

What did I know about Spider-Man, really? Virtually nothing. I knew his alter ego's name was Peter Parker (or Peter Parker's alter ego's name was Spider-Man...hey, at least I got the name right!). I _think _his parents are dead, and he lived with his aunt and uncle, though I couldn't remember their names. I scribbled that down as I mentally beat myself up because I never paid attention to what my brothers ever said when we were younger.

My mind eventually wandered over to Peter Parker (don't give me that look! Spider-Man and Peter Parker are intertwined, okay?). How much did he know me? How much was I supposed to know him? I mulled over these thoughts as my pencil danced across my page, starting a doodle that I didn't even know I had started until I zoned back in. I cringed when I saw that I had started drawing Peter's face.

Huh. I wasn't that bad of an artist. In fact, in kind of looked like him...

"What are you drawing?" Eddie said, and this time, I didn't scream. I just jumped out of my skin.

"Jeez, would you stop that?" I asked, my hand going over my heart. "I'm going to die before I could ever help Peter Parker."

"What are you drawing?" Eddie asked again, ignoring what I said.

I quickly became self-conscious. If Eddie found out I had zoned out and subconsciously drawn Peter's face, I'd never heard the end of it. I quickly tried folding the paper. "Nothing! It's nothing."

Eddie eyed me. "It's not nothing if you're trying to hide it from me, Madeline," Eddie said, and he reached over to grab the paper. I was so surprised how real he looked, that I let him snatch it out of my hands.

He quickly unfolded it, and I just tucked my knees under my chin and buried my face in my lap. I could practically _hear_ the smug smile on his face. "Well, well, welly well well," He started, his voice dripping heavily with smugness. "What do we have here, Ms. Beckett?"

"It's nothing," I said, bringing my face out of my lap, a blush creeping on my face.

"Well, I don't know about you, but that looks like Peter Parker to me," He said, pointing right at the picture. "You actually got the little swirl of hair on his head perfectly."

"It didn't come easy," I told him. "I had to redraw that part a lot because I just couldn't quite seem to-" I cut myself off at the knowing look on Eddie's face. "Now that's just rude!" He was making a fool out of me, and I just helped him along!

Eddie just folded the paper again and held it out to me. I furiously snatched it out of his hand before stuffing it into my book bag, my blush growing by the second.

"Speaking of Peter Parker," Eddie said, pointing at a crowd that had started forming when I started arguing with someone who probably wasn't real. "I think he's gonna need a hand in about five minutes."

"With what?" I asked, straining to hear what was going on. It sounded like people where shouting, "Eat it!" So I could only assume that a poor kid was getting bullied.

"You'll see once you go over there," Eddie answered, and when I turned my head to demand that he just tell me, he was gone already.

I grumbled in annoyance, but got up to my feet and walked over to the crowd to see what was going on for myself.

And I was horrified to see what I found. Some idiot kid was holding a poor kid-probably a freshman-and shoving his face into a plate of...something. I felt even worse for him. The food here was shit.

I eventually found myself standing next to Peter when I heard the bully say to him, "Take a picture, Parker!" As he lifted the kid's face away from the plate, holding him up towards Peter so that he could get a 'good shot'.

"No, I'm not taking a picture," Peter flat out refused, and I wasn't gonna lie when I said I felt my heart slightly swell. "Just put him down." He got this alarmed look on his face when he saw the kid's head go back towards the plate. "Gordon, don't eat it."

The whole crowd just kept cheering for Gordon to eat the spaghetti in front of him, but there were actually some people who looked a bit disinterested, or who looked like they wanted to stick up to the Kid.

But no one did.

Except for Peter.

Which was kind of attractive, now that I think about it.

"Take the picture, Parker," The Bully repeated.

Peter just kept shaking his head. "Put him down, Flash."

Flash? What kind of name was that?

"Do something," Eddie muttered in my ear.

_ "What the hell am I supposed to do?" _I asked in my head. Wait, why didn't I just do that whenever I talk to Eddie?

"Back Peter up!" He coached. Before I could say anything, he shoved me slightly, and I crashed right into Peter's side. He caught me before I could fall, but once he had me back on my feet, he turned right back to Flash.

"Say something!" Eddie demanded, and before I could process what I was doing, I blurted, "It's not funny, put the kid down."

I could feel Peter's eyes on me, but I just ignored him as Flash kept telling Peter to take the picture. Peter kept refusing, and kept telling Flash to put Gordon down. I quickly joined in, but Peter silenced everybody when he shouted, "Put him down..._Eugene_!"

Okay, now at least I knew he had a real name. But by the quiet that followed and the look on Eugene's face as he threw Gordon to the ground-he was _not_ happy. How did Peter know his name, anyways?

Flash headed straight for us, and I could already tell that this was _not_ going to be pretty. I was about to try and do something stupid-stand up to Flash-but Peter pushed me out of the way and some guy caught me before I hit the ground.

My eyes immediately travelled over to the spot where Peter and Flash were, and my heart skipped a beat when I realized that Peter wasn't standing there. It took me a second to register that he was on the ground, Flash sending swift kicks to his chest.

To Peter's credit though, he did get up and try to fight back. It was no match for Flash, though.

Flash was about to kick Peter in the chest again when I decided to do something crazy. I pushed myself off of whoever caught me, walked right up to Flash, and stopped him before he could hurt Peter again. But you wanna know how I did it?

I kind of...punched him in the face.

"Atta girl, Mads," Eddie whispered in my ear.

I swear to God, I didn't mean the punch! I was just going to push Flash away from Peter and tell him to lay off. But the groans that were coming from Peter just sent hot fire coursing through my veins instead of blood. Peter had done nothing wrong! He was just trying to be a good person and stand up to idiots like Flash.

And okay, I didn't want his cute little hair swirl to get ruined.

The punch threw him way off track, I knew that much. I tried ignoring the pain that immediately started forming in my knuckles. I tried ignoring my hand completely. "Lay off, Flash. Why don't you run along and finish your homework, like a good boy? Or do you really want a beating from a girl?"

Now I know what you're thinking-Madeline, your punch shouldn't have hurt Flash so bad! Well, let me tell you something, boys and girls. When you grew up with three brothers and as the only girl in the family, you had to fight for your rights. Ian and I always used to fight over the remote control, Paul and I would fight over the last cookie, and Mike and I would fight over who gets to use the good chair during movie night. I also fought with my Dad to build me a separate bathroom as sharing a bathroom with three boys stopped being an option when I turned thirteen. Also, my Dad enrolled me into a couple self defense classes in case I ever needed it. Well, it came in handy now!

Flash just glared daggers at Peter and I, before gesturing to his friends that it was time to jet. I gave a sarcastic smile as I wiggled my fingers in Flash's direction, as if to say, "Ta-ta", and he was gone.

I let out this enormous breath that I had no idea had formed after they left, and the crowd quickly disbanded. I stood up to Flash! Me! Madeline Beckett! Yes, thank you, thank you. Rocking the superhero status, one dimension at a time.

"Madeline, priorities," Eddie said.

"Right!" I said out loud. I turned around, and walked over to Peter.

A kid that was wandering by knocked Peter's camera right out of his hand, and I was about to kick them in the legs so that they fell over, but they were gone before they had the chance.

Peter quickly grabbed his camera, and it looked like it was in a whole bunch of pieces. I didn't really know how cameras work, so I didn't know if this was fixable or not. But I still wanted to make sure Peter was okay.

I knelt down next to him. "Think it'll live?" I asked, and Peter's head shot right up at the sound of my voice. I nodded my head to the piece of technology in his hands. "Your camera. Think it'll live?"

He started tinkering with it. "Maybe."

I smiled and offered him a hand. "Good."

Peter hesitated for a second before he took it, and I helped him stand up. "Are you okay? Maybe you should see the nurse. No offence, but that looked like it hurt."

He had a small bump on his forehead, his jaw was starting to swell, and he a few scratches here and there. The only thing I was really worried about is his chest and his head. He could have gotten a concussion.

"I'll be fine," He dismissed.

"The swelling in your jaw says otherwise," I told him. "If you're not going to go to the nurse, at least let me take a look at you."

Peter was clearly about to object, but I pointed a finger in his direction. "I hope you realize that I'm not taking no for an answer."

Peter smiled shyly. "Fine, if it'll make you happy."

"It would," I told him. I grabbed his arm and told him to sit on one of the benches beside a vending machine while I ran and grabbed my stuff by the tree I was sitting by. In the whole Flash drama, I completely forgot I left it.

Eddie was just standing by the tree, a victory smile on his face.

"Wipe that smug look off of your face before I take it off for you," I said to him as I grabbed my bag. I turned around to run back to Peter.

"Like you did to Flash?"

I stopped in my tracks, and turned my head, a smile on my face. "Exactly."

I got back to Peter, who, to my surprise, was still sitting on the bench, working away on his camera.

"How does the situation look?" I asked as I sat next to Peter.

He looked up at me, before slightly blushing and looking back down. "I think I might be able to fix it."

I reached into my bag and pulled out the bottle of lemonade. It was still really cold, so I just hoped that it would help with the swelling. "Here," I said, holding it up so he can see it. "It's no ice pack, but since you refuse to go to the nurse, it'll have to do."

I gently put the bottle on his jaw, and his hand reached up to take the bottle from me. Don't tell anyone, especially not Eddie, but I liked helping Peter Parker. I felt...good. Which was why I gave him a look that told him that I could hold it and pointed down at his camera, "You have a more pressing matter at hand, doctor."

But didn't everyone feel good after they help people?

"You shouldn't have stood up to Flash," Peter said quietly. "He could have hurt you."

"Please," I said with an eye roll. "I think I did more damage to him than he did to me."

"Really?" Peter asked, finally looking over at me so that he was looking at my face. I got locked in his brown orbs, trying not to drown as he took my hand with the lemonade bottle off of his face. He put the bottle in his lap and held up my hand so that I could look at the back of it. To my horror, there was blood on my knuckles. "You hurt him more?"

I pulled my hand out of Peter's grasp. "I'm fine. I probably just cut my hand on his tooth, that's all."

"That's all?" He repeated. "A guy's tooth cut your hand open!"

"And that same guy could have given you a concussion, Parker," I retorted. Ugh, he was making me so angry! Just let me help you!

Why did that sound so weird?

Peter reached into his pocket, pulling out a crumpled, though unused, tissue. Gently, he began wiping the dried blood off of my hands.

"It's all dried up," I told him. "I'm fine." Once he was done, I took my hand back and started wiggling my fingers. "I'm okay. I still have all ten of my fingers." I started doing jazz hands. "I can still do jazz hands."

That lead to Peter and I sharing a laugh, and that's when I realized that I probably embarrassed the poor guy. A girl had to save him. Might as well apologize. "I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"I'm sorry if I humiliated you. I mean, a girl _did_ have to save you," I pointed out.

"No, it's fine. It actually reminded me of the time in the second grade where Tommy Emerson took the basketball I was playing with, and you kicked him, and, these were your words, 'right where the sun doesn't shine'," Peter told me.

My heart skipped a beat. I was pretty sure by the time I was done here I'd have gone into cardiac arrest at least twice. "You remember something I said in the second grade?" I asked, my heart warming up to Peter Parker.

I wish I hadn't said that, because he immediately started blushing. Aw, no, I didn't mean to embarrass the guy! Again!

Lucky for the both of us, the bell rang, signalling the end of lunch. "Well, I should get to my next class," Peter said, stumbling to stand up.

"Okay, well," I said, standing up. I took my eyes off of Peter to pick up my own bag. I looked back up as I said, "I'll see you-"

Peter was no where to be seen.

"Later?" I finished, questioning myself more than Peter. Was I really making him that uncomfortable?

"You know why you were making him uncomfortable," Eddie said as I began walking to my next class.

"So he's uncomfortable around girls," I said. "Happens to a lot of guys."

"That may be true, but you're not 'just a girl' to Peter," He told me.

"Wait," I said, literally coming to a stop. "Do you know what-or, _who_ I am to Peter Parker?"

Eddie started stammering, like he wanted to say something, but couldn't.

"Eddie, tell me, _right now_," I said in my best threatening voice.

"Oh, would you look at that?" Eddie said, looking at the watch he had on his wrist. "You're late for history class. Go on!"

He vanished and my eyes widened as I stepped forward to stop him. "Hey! Come back!"

"Ms. Beckett?" I heard, and I turned around to see a middle aged, female teacher. "Are you all right?"

I cleared my throat, blushing to the tips of my ears. "Yeah, I'm fine."

She didn't look like she believed me, so I quickly spun around and (after a quick look at my times table to find out where the damn room was), I began dashing to my history class.

So I _did_ have some sort of history with Peter Parker. Now I'd just got to go home and dig it up.

But for now, I had regular history.

Not the kind I would like to be learning right now.

* * *

**TBC...**

**Yay! We actually got some movie stuff in there, and a bunch of Peter and Mads interaction. I wasn't going to have Eddie in there, but he just randomly came to me as I was writing the scene when she goes up to her bedroom. I think it'd be good for her to have someone to talk to that isn't herself. Or is it?**

**Anyways, I'm really happy with the positive response I've been getting! Could we keep it up?**

**REVIEW! FOLLOW! FAVOURITE! THANKS! STAY TUNED! **


	3. Oscorp

**Disclaimer: **I do not own the Amazing Spider-Man! I just own my OC, "Madeline Beckett" and any other characters I make up along the way!

**Author's Note: **I was actually searching for a BETA for this story, so anyone that would like to BETA for me and help me write this story, please send me a PM!

Also, WalkingInAWinterWonderlandxx, your review, actually made me want to cry. To know that you don't read Spider-Man fanfictions, and then come read my fanfiction and tell me that you love it and that it's good, it just completely shattered me into pieces. So, I want you to know, that this WHOLE chapter, is dedicated to YOU! Thank you so much for your kind and inspiring words (yeah I'm cheesy deal with it) and I really hope that you like this chapter!

**Enjoy!**

* * *

I didn't see Peter for the rest of the day. Which was kind of weird, considering that we lived next to each other. We should have at least seen each other on the way home from school.

Whatever. I didn't care. I didn't.

When I got home, I didn't get to start the research that I wanted to. Instead, I had to do research for a damn history assignment. Lucky for me, Eddie didn't bother me at all. It was like when I needed to focus the most he went away. Whatever, as long as he was gone.

I did try to Google Spider-Man and Andrew Garfield, but nothing came up. Of course.

Also, Gwen called me, and then she yelled at me for being stupid because I stood up to Flash, but then she called me brave for helping Peter. Yeah, I didn't get her mood swings either.

"Maddie!" Shelia called up the stairs as I hung up the phone. "Can you come down here for a second?"

I rolled my eyes, but when down to the kitchen to see what she wanted. "What's up? "

"Could you do me a favour and run over to the May Parker's home and ask if she can give you any brown sugar?" She asked as she raided a pantry. "I can't seem to find any. I have to put it on the grocery list."

Parker? As in Peter? I couldn't face him, not after today. But, I'd only be going to see May...his aunt? If it was just sugar she needed, I guess I'd be okay with going over to get some.

"Sure," I told her, and she handed me a small bowl.

I took a deep breath before walking over to the Parker home. It was just sugar, right?

I gently knocked on the door, and unfortunately, Peter's the one that answered the door. "Hey, Madeline."

"Hi, Peter," I said back. Ack, why was I being so formal? "I just, came over to see if you guys had any brown sugar," I told him, holding up the bowl as if saying, 'see?'. "My mom's out."

"Yeah, I can ask my aunt May," He said, and he opened the door a little more. "You wanna come in?"

If this was mine and Peter's awkward, I couldn't even _imagine _our close.

I just slightly nodded my head and slipped inside. Peter shut the door behind me, and I was already feeling like the walls were getting smaller.

The Parker home was nice, quiet. It was really...homey.

Was that the best that I can come up with? Homey?

It had that comfortable air in the house, you know, considering Peter's parents were dead.

I was just great at parties.

"Just keep walking, I'll guide you through the rest," Eddie instructed, and I had to fight the urge to nod. He was really my only guide, and right now, I was kind of glad I had him.

I walked into the kitchen, where May Parker was cooking away at something. A quick whiff identified it as spaghetti, and I had to literally stop my stomach from growling. I usually did this by punching myself in the stomach, but because that would seem weird, I just shouted insults at it until it stopped. Which works, if you practiced a lot.

May looked up, and it looked like her heart swelled when she saw me. "Madeline Beckett, is that really you?"

I exchanged a quick glance with Peter, before looking back at May. "Yes, it's really me."

"My, how you've grown!" She said, and before I knew it, I was enveloped in a hug with May Parker.

Mike would literally kill me if it meant that he could be standing in the Parker kitchen instead of me.

She pulled back. "I mean, I've seen you around, but this is the first time I've _seen_ _you_ seen you," May said, pushing my hair back in a motherly way.

"Yeah," I said awkwardly. I'd apparently known this woman for a long time. What did I do, Eddie?! The one time I wanted you around!

"Tell her that your mom needs the sugar," Eddie told me.

I held out the bowl. "Actually, my mom wanted to know if you guys had any brown sugar. We're all out."

"Oh, of course, dear," May said, taking the bowl. "Just give me a minute."

A man came into the room, and I looked behind me to see who I could only assume was Peter's Uncle, whose name I still didn't know.

His eyes brightened when he saw me too. "Is that little Maddie?" He asked, putting the box he was carrying down on the table and coming over to give me a big hug.

"Yeah, it sure is..." I struggled for a name. Ah, what the hell. I knew their last name. "Mr. Parker."

He pulled back. "You got so tall!"

"Well, it _is_ called growing _up_, Mr. Parker," I said and realized too late that I was being too sarcastic for Peter's relatives.

To my relief, Mr. Parker just laughed. "She's still got that sense of humour. And how many times must I tell you to call me Ben?"

Ben! _Now_ I was getting somewhere!

He got this look on his face, as if he'd just remembered why he came up. Then he turned to Peter. "Peter, need your help in the basement."

Peter sort of made a sound of annoyance, but went with his uncle down to the basement anyways. Which just left May and I. What was taking this woman so long to get brown sugar?

"I saw you and Peter walking to school together this morning," May said as she finally found the bag of brown sugar.

I laughed nervously. "Well, we were both walking the same way, so I thought, 'why not'?"

"I'm glad that you did," May said. "It's nice that you two are becoming friends again."

Friends? Peter Parker and I could barely hold up a conversation. Also I think I might have scared him away.

"I'm glad too," I found myself saying. If I could hurry this 'Spider-Man' thing along, that means I could get home quicker. And I would like to get home. I missed my parents, my friends, even my brothers! Whose feet I shall be kissing when I got back because they were right all along. I shouldn't have made fun of them for their nerdiness.

She handed me the bowl of sugar, which I gladly took. "Be sure to come around again, okay?"

I nodded swiftly. "Of course. Will you tell Peter goodbye for me?"

May beamed at me, before giving me a quick hug. It seemed like everyone around here-except for Peter-are all touchy feely. Which was kind of weird.

I said a quick goodbye before going back to my house. I felt kind of bad for not saying goodbye to Peter myself, but I got over myself as I set the bowl on the counter and beelined back to my room.

When I got in, I was relieved to see that our dog, Nemo (Sara's name choice) was sitting on top of my bed instead of Eddie. I grabbed my laptop from my desk before sitting on my bed, scratching behind Nemo's ears.

I was about to finish the last bit of my homework when my cell phone rang. I grabbed it off of my side table, and Gwen's face was popping up, telling me that she was the one calling. "Hello?"

"Hey, what's up?" She asked.

"Not much," I answered. "Finishing up some homework."

"Cool, cool. So listen, I was wondering if we're still on for dinner tomorrow night after Oscorp," Gwen wondered.

Oscorp? What the hell?

"It's where you and Gwen worked," Eddie filled in, and to my happiness, he disappeared just as easily as he reappeared. I could get used to him not being around.

"Yeah, we're still on," I said numbly. Of course, all this important crap happens when I was here.

"Great! Then I'll see you bright and early."

_Bright and early?_

* * *

Sure enough, the next morning, I had to down at least three cups of tea to stay awake. And then I had to eat like, ten tic tacs to get rid of the tea breath.

Since I had no idea how to get to Oscorp, I Googled it last night. Lucky for me, it wasn't that far to walk. So that's what I did. I guess the part about no one owning a car in Manhattan was true.

I got to Oscorp, where I was eventually found by Gwen, who scolded me for being almost late. Not my fault I had literally zero idea on where to go.

I grabbed my ID and a lab coat (yay, lab coats!), putting them both on as I followed Gwen to meet the group of hopeful interns.

"Welcome to Oscorp," Gwen started confidently. "My name is Gwen Stacy, and this is Madeline Beckett. We're seniors at Midtown Science and I'm the head intern of Doctor Connors's. We'll be with you for the duration of your time here today. Where we go, you go. It's a basic rule. If you remember that, you'll be fine."

How did she have the energy? I felt like I had just run a marathon, trying to catch up with her. I could only imagine how _she_ felt. Whatever, she must be used to it.

Gwen was cut off from what she was going to say next by angry shouting coming from the lobby. We all turned our heads to see what was happening, and some guy named Rodrigo Guevara was shouting that he was supposed to be with the group. But why were they kicking him out if he was?

"Looks like I don't need to tell you what happens if you forget. Shall we?" Gwen said to the group, and I had to conceal my laughter as we turned around to start leading the group...somewhere. I was really just following Gwen, here.

We walked into a lab, and a quick check at the sign on the door told me that it was a genetics lab. I wasn't going to lie when I said that I pretty much had a science-gasm over all the technology around me. I had to fight my urge to run over to the computers and start looking at everything, and it was easier to do when my focus shifted to a blond man who had just walked in. I did a double take when I saw that he was missing part of his right arm. I gave myself two seconds to stare at it before looking up at-his name tag said "Dr. Connors"-'s face. It _was_ rude to stare, and I didn't want to get caught doing it.

"Gwen, Madeline," Dr. Connors greeted us.

We nodded our heads in response. "Dr. Connors," We said, scarily at the same time. My best friend from my old world, Emily, and I used to do the same thing. We'd been finishing each other's sentences since the third grade.

"My name is Dr. Curtis Connors, and I'm not a cripple, I'm a scientist," He started. Bluntness was one way to start, I guess. "I'm the world's foremost authority in Herpetology, which is reptiles for those of you who don't know."

Count me as one of those people. I was really only interested in marine biology. I loved the sea, I had ever since I was a kid.

"But like the Parkinson's patient, who watches on in horror as her body slowly betrays her, or the man with Macular Degenerations, eyes grow dimmer each day, _I_ long to fix myself," Connors said. "I want to create a world without weakness."

I felt a bit uncomfortable now, if I was going to be honest.

"Anyone care to venture a guess as to how?" He asked the group.

A boy at the front raised his hand, and Connors called on him. "Stem cells?" The boy suggested.

"Promising, but the solution that I'm thinking of is a bit more radical," Connors told us.

"Cross species genetics," A voice from the back guessed, and I internally groaned when I recognized the voice, the entire crowd parting so that Connors and everyone else had a clear view of the person that the voice belonged to.

"Peter Parker?" Gwen whispered to me, before she looked down at her iPad, probably checking to see if Peter's name was on the list.

"A person gets Parkinson's when the brain cells that produce dopamine start to disappear," Peter started. "But, a zebra fish has the ability to regenerate cells on command. If you can somehow give this ability to the woman you're talking about, that's that...she's curing herself," Peter finished off with a proud grin.

That melted my insides.

What the heck was going on?

"Yeah, you'd just have to look past the gills on her neck," A person from the crowd joked, leading everyone else to laugh. I didn't care though. I was staring right at Peter, who was trying to avoid my gaze, focusing his on Dr. Connors. I was really impressed, actually.

"And you are?" Connors asked Peter.

And the guy drew a blank. He couldn't tell if he should be saying Peter Parker, or whatever the other guy's name was.

So I quickly intervened. "He's one of Midtown Science's best and brightest. He's third in his class."

"Only third? You sure about that?" He asked, and I swear to God I saw a mischevious smile on his face.

Who's trying to save your stupid neck? "I'm pretty sure," I said firmly.

Our little stare down was interrupted by Dr. Connors getting called to another part of the building. "Well, duty calls. I'll leave you in the capable hands of Miss Stacy and Miss Beckett. Nice meeting you."

After he left, Gwen pulled up a hologram of...something, but I ignored it as the rest of the students began to crowd it. I quickly whispered to Gwen that I'd be right back, and that if she had to, she should continue with the tour and I'd just find her myself (let's hope that it doesn't come to that), then I pushed myself out of the crowd until I found the person I was looking for.

"You know, the last time I checked your name wasn't Rodrigo," I said to Peter when I walked up to him.

Peter smiled nervously, which sent butterflies to my stomach. Stop it, stomach! "Oh," He said awkwardly, looking down at his-well, Rodrigo's-name tag.

"So, what are you doing here?" I asked, unable to stop the smile on my face. Peter being obviously awkward was kind of cute.

Was that a bad thing to think?

"I work here," He blurted, and then quickly realized his mistake. "I _was_ gonna say that I work here, but it seems in fact, that you work here," He said, and I wasn't gonna lie when I said that it sort of bothered me that he wasn't making eye contact with me. "So I don't, in fact, work here," He finished, a goofy smile on his face. I had to bite the bottom of my lip to keep myself from bursting into laughter, just at the sheer awkwardness.

Also, those glasses looked cute on him.

"If I didn't know any better, Parker, I'd say that you were following me," I suggested, a joking smile on my face.

"What? No," He stammered. "I'm not following you. I had no idea you worked here."

"Then what _are_ you doing here?" I asked. Now I _knew _that I was making the poor guy uncomfortable. I was just...enjoying it? Did that make me a bad person?

"I snuck in...because I love science!" He said.

"You...love science?" I said, though I didn't really intend this as a question.

"It's my passion, really."

"Well, then. Just, stay with the group, okay?" I requested. "I don't want to be in trouble, I don't want to get Gwen in trouble, and I certainly do not want you to get into trouble."

"Fine, fine," He nodded, and I gave him a smile in thanks as I turned around to walk back to Gwen.

She started leading the group away, and before I knew it, Eddie was standing next to me again. "Go follow Peter," He said.

_"What do you mean, 'follow Peter'?" _I asked in my head this time. _"Peter's right..."_

I turned my head to see that Peter was no where behind me. I looked around the room for him and eventually saw him walking away, rather quickly, might I add. But it wasn't to the exit.

I grumbled under my breath as I dashed after him, not even caring if I just gave into Eddie's demand. This idiot was going to get himself into trouble, and then thrown in jail for impersonating someone, and then he won't be Spider-Man, and then I'd never get home!

I was glad I opted for my flats instead of my heels as I ran after Peter Parker. He fled into a hallway, and I followed him. I had just gotten to him when he walked inside a door. I pushed myself the last second, and I managed to catch the door before it shut.

I must have made quite a show, because Peter spun around. I started panting heavily so that I could catch my breath, putting my hands on my knees.

"Mads?" Peter asked, confused.

I stood straight as I crossed my arms. "What did I say about staying with the group? Why are you actually here?"

"I just have something to figure out, and then I'll leave, okay? You can go back to the group," Peter suggested.

I scoffed. "No way, buddy. No way am I letting you out of my sight now. Whatever it is that is so important that you had to break rules, I want to know."

Peter sighed. "Are you sure?"

"Do I look unsure?"

"Fine. But you can't tell anybody."

"And I'm not planning on it," I told him. That's when the both of us seemed to realize where we were. In a top secret lab...room, thing. There were a bunch of machines doing all sorts of things.

I was too captivated by the room to realize that Peter had begun walking towards a door. The room behind the door was glowing blue. "Peter," I started, running after him. "I have a feeling we should stay _away_ from the strange blue room, don't you?"

"I need to know what's in there," He whispered.

"What could possibly be in there that _you _might need to know?" I whispered back.

He grinned, making my heart flutter. "That's what I'm going to find out." Without another word, he opened the door to the blue room.

And to my horror, there were spiders. And webs. _Everywhere._

There was a reason that I claimed to be screaming because of spiders, people. Even though those people are my fake family, they would still know that I was scared of spiders.

Peter just kept walking in as I stood frozen by the doorway. I covered my mouth to keep myself from wanting to throw up. And there was Peter, touching the webs and everything!

"Don't touch anything!" I demanded, though it came out all muffled because I was covering my mouth.

As soon as I told Peter not to touch anything, everything stopped and began moving in some sort of new way. To my complete disgust and horror, _the spiders started falling from the ceiling_.

Peter and I needed to get out of here _now_. Who knew what contaminated these spiders! Spiders bite!

Hang on, spider bite. Contaminated. I _knew_ this one. This was probably the only thing I ever listened to Paul and Ian go on about...

It was when Peter started squirming did I realize what it was. I quickly grabbed his wrist and pulled him out of the way so that no more spiders fell on him as I helped him push all the other spiders off of him.

_Peter Parker gained his powers after he was bitten by a radioactive spider._

We managed to get them all off, and I grabbed his wrist again before I pulled us both out of that room. I still had my hand on his wrist, mainly so that he didn't run away. He scared me! Those spiders made me actually want to throw up.

Once we got back to open spaces, I managed to see Gwen with the group inside a room. I spun on my heel, letting go of Peter's wrists. I guess he didn't expect me to turn around so quickly, because he kept walking, and in turn, walked right into my chest. He was heavier than me, and I almost toppled over. Peter's hands immediately went to my arms, steadying me. My hands went to his chest to help steady myself, and we stood like that for a couple of seconds, just looking into each other's eyes, as if we were asking the other person if they were okay.

Our silent conversation was over when Gwen came walking over. Peter and I let each other go and put a reasonable amount of space between the two of us when Gwen made it to us. She looked between Peter and I, and then her gaze stayed on me, asking for an explanation.

"I found him...wandering the halls," I told her. "I was just about to-"

"Tell him to leave," Gwen finished for me. "Go back to the group, lead them to the next lab. I'll take care of Peter."

"But-"

"_Now_, Mads."

"All right, Miss Stacy," I said, putting my hands up in defeat. I snuck a final look at Peter. "See you around, Parker."

He gave me a nervous smile in return, and I couldn't help but feel...happy. A guy was nervous around me? To my knowledge, that's never happened before. The only people that ever got nervous around me were little kids. Not boys my age. Especially not cute boys.

Oh, don't look too much into it, Madeline. You still had a lot of work to look forward to.

* * *

By the time I got home, I was beyond exhausted. Gwen and I worked for the next couple of hours, and instead of going to the nice place that does the fish, we opted for Chinese food instead, since we were both in no position to look poised enough for a restaurant like that one.

I walked through the door, and was greeted by Nemo as I peeled my jacket off and hung it in the coat closet. "I'm home!" I called out.

Shelia came into the hallway. "You haven't seen Peter, have you?" She asked me, a bit frazzled.

I pulled my hair out of the ponytail that I had made before I ate, and shook my hair out. "Not since this afternoon. I saw him at Oscorp, but that's it. Why?"

"May told me that he's not home yet," She answered.

My stomach dropped. "What? Is he okay?"

"Oh, I'm sure he's fine. May's just very overprotective, that's all. He'll probably be home soon," She said.

I chose to believe her. I retired to my bedroom, wanting nothing more than to collapse onto my bed and fall asleep, having no worries. But someone was already sitting on my bed. Again.

"Eddie, I'm not in the mood tonight," I said, dropping my bag to the floor as I moved to my dresser drawers to grab myself a pair of shorts and a shirt to sleep in.

"You better get into the mood," He told me. "And soon, because Peter Parker got bitten by that spider."

My hands froze. I whipped around to face him. "What? What do you mean? I thought we got all of the spiders off of him!"

"Wha-do you not know the story of Spider-Man?" Eddie asked in disbelief. "Peter Parker gained his powers by a spider bite."

"That much I could remember," I told him.

He walked over to the window and gestured for me to follow. I rolled my eyes, but did so. He gestured for me to spread the curtains apart and open the window. I rolled my eyes, but did it.

And what I saw when I looked out my window across from me was Peter Parker eating away at...something.

"So he's eating!" I protested, turning back to face Eddie. "News flash-people do that to stay alive."

"Another news flash-Peter has been bitten by the spider," Eddie repeated. "The path of Spider-Man has begun, and you better get ready to guide him."

"I'm not guiding him anywhere!" I protested. "I don't care about Spider-Man!"

"But you do about Peter," Eddie retorted. I tried to argue against that, but words were failing me. Because he was right. I was starting to care about Peter Parker. "If you care enough about Peter, you'll help him. Besides, helping Spider-Man is your ticket back home."

I groaned, putting my face in my hands. Now, this had to do with me going home. I pulled my face out of my hands and said, "I'll check on him tomorrow morning. I have no energy to do anything. Now, get out, so that I can change."

Eddie vanished, and I shut my window and my curtains so that I could quickly dispose the jeans and t-shirt for an old pair of shorts and a t-shirt. After that, I shut my light off and crawled into bed.

Tomorrow morning, I started my job as Spider-Man's guide.

This was too much weight to put on a person like me's shoulders.

* * *

**TBC...**

**This one is not as long as the last one, I know and I'm sorry! It's getting late where I am, so it's time for me to get some sleep for school tomorrow. I promise, I'll try to make the next chapter longer than this one.**

**I am really hoping that I did the scene where everything changes okay! Let me know if I did!**

**I'm excited for what's going to happen in the later chapters! There's one idea that I have that I'm trying to squeeze in, and if it works, hurray! If it doesn't then I'll just tell you the idea, because I want someone to know.**

**REVIEW! FOLLOW! FAVOURITE! THANKS! STAY TUNED!**


	4. A Change in the Game

**Disclaimer: **I do not own the Amazing Spider-Man! I just own my OC, "Madeline Beckett" and any other characters I make up along the way!

**Author's Note: **I HOPE YOU GUYS REALIZE THAT YOUR REVIEWS MAKE ME CRY.

Fair warning: it gets depressing closer to the end of the chapter, and to those of you who have read the comics or seen the movie, then you know what I mean.

* * *

**Enjoy!**

"Wake up!" A voice yelled in my ear, and surprisingly, it wasn't Eddie Murphy this time. It was Sara.

"What?" I said groggily, opening my eyes and struggling to focus on her face.

"Mommy said to get up and walk Nemo," Sara simply told me, before she scampered off out of my room.

"Walk what?" I asked, and I was answered by the dog snuggling his head into my chest.

Groaning, I allowed myself ten more minutes to sleep when I found out that it was still early. And by early, I mean just a little before noon. But it was Sunday, Sunday was always my lazy day.

I finally pushed my covers off of me as I changed out of my pyjamas and into a better pair of shorts and a tank top. I quickly threw my hair into a ponytail before going down the stairs, Nemo at my heels.

"You're checking on Peter today," Eddie reminded me as I poured myself a glass of orange juice.

"Yeah," I started, knocking the glass back. "Gonna have to take a rain check on that."

"You can't take a rain check!"

"Why not?"

"It's not raining! When you go to walk your dog, just check up on him," He told me.

"Don't you think that's a little weird?" I asked him as I found Nemo's leash in a cupboard. "Just going over to his house and saying, 'Hey Peter. I was wondering if you had been bit by a radioactive spider. Oh, and obtained super spider powers'."

"You are talking to a figment of your imagination and you're calling _that_ weird?" Eddie retorted.

"Good point," I allowed, snapping Nemo's leash on his collar and leading him towards the front door, where my sneakers were sitting.

I stuck them on as Eddie said, "Peter's just outside. Go say hi, and ask him if he found what he was looking for yesterday. That seems less suspicious."

"I guess," I agreed as I opened the front door and stepped out. I started walking down the sidewalk, and initially, I wasn't going to check on Parker. But I changed my mind when I saw him sitting on his _roof_.

I walked over to his lawn, gripping Nemo's leash firmly. "Trying to accomplish something up there, Parker?"

Peter jumped slightly, which sort of worried me. I know, it was a good thing that he only jumped, but normal Peter would probably have fallen off of the roof. This Peter seemed vaguely aware that I was around. It was like he had another sense.

And I wasn't going to say a "spidey sense". I would rather jump off of the Statue of Liberty first.

"Just, doing homework," He answered back, pushing his glasses farther up his nose. Then, he turned back to his book.

Well, he was okay, and clearly didn't want to talk to me today. I don't know why I felt so offended. Whatever, might as well just go.

"I'll leave you to it then, I guess," I said, and waved at him. "Later, Parker."

He quickly waved back before looking at his book. Whatever homework he was doing, it was really sucking him in.

"You are the worst guide in history, you know that?" Eddie informed me as I started walking around the neighbourhood with Nemo.

"Not my fault that Peter Parker is the worst at opening up to people," I retorted.

"That's only because you really have to push yourself in there," Eddie said.

"I'm not invading Parker's life!" I said outright. That was just weird! Sure, I could handle being friends with him, and maybe even feeling something every now and then. But pushing myself into his life just seemed wrong.

"Then take baby steps," Eddie suggested instead. "One way or another, you're going to be helping Peter Parker."

"I am the worst person to give this job to!" I said. "Why didn't you bring in any of my brothers? Or any other fangirl that isn't _me_?"

"Because those girls aren't _you_," Eddie retorted.

"And what's so special about being me?" I asked him. "I'm not anything special! The only thing that I am good at...is probably tying my shoelaces."

Eddie stopped walking and turned so that he was standing right in front of me. I must have looked like a weirdo with the way that I had abruptly stopped in the middle of the street, but that wasn't my biggest concern. My biggest concern was the sudden seriousness on Eddie's face.

"You're more special to Peter Parker than you'll ever know," He said slowly.

My heart thumped as I processed his words. Exactly how much did I mean to Peter Parker? I really needed to do that research! "What am I to Peter Parker?" I asked, anticipation filling my heart with each word.

To my disappointment, Eddie just gave me a grin before disappearing. I growled as I stomped my foot. "Fine! I don't need you! I'll figure it out myself!"

And that's when I realized that an eleven year old boy holding a popsicle stick stopped riding his scooter to stare directly at the deranged woman with a dog, yelling at nothing.

"What are you looking at?" I snapped at him, and the scary look on my face was enough to scare him away.

I groaned as I just cut the walk short and went the same way back home. I was in no mood to be walking right now. Maybe I'd buy a treadmill, tie a bone to it, and just let Nemo run on that trying to get the bone. But that's taking the easy way out, wasn't it?

Whatever. At this point, I _deserved_ the easy way out.

* * *

The next day, I was woken up by my alarm clock. Yes, my alarm clock. Not my imaginary mentor, or my sister, or my dog. Just a clock. Like a regular person should be.

I put on a black tank top with a white cardigan, a black skirt, and white flats before deciding on how to do my hair. I liked changing it up from day to day, and today, I was trying to decide if I should do my hair up, or down.

I tried positioning ways to have my brunette hair on top of my head, but it wasn't really working. Then when I tried to put my hair down, Eddie showed up next to me. "You should wear your hair up."

I scoffed. "Do you really think that I'm going to be taking fashion advice from Eddie Murphy?"

"Very funny. I'm just suggesting up...because Peter likes it when your hair is up," He told me, and I whipped my head so fast in his direction I swear I could have broken my neck. Obviously sensing my confusion, he finished up with, "He can see all of your face when you do."

Peter liked my hair up...because he wanted to see my face? Wait, why did I care?

I nervously scoffed, trying to pass it off. "Like I'm supposed to care what Peter Parker thinks."

* * *

"I like what you did with your hair today," Gwen told me as we walked down the hall towards our first period class. "You should always wear your hair up."

I gently touched the hairpin that was keeping my hair from falling apart. "Thanks. But I don't know how often I'm gonna keep it up."

The morning passed without me realizing and soon it was lunch. A friend of mine in art class asked for my help with painting a banner, so I agreed, even though I couldn't paint all that well. It was drawing that I was really good at. She told me that it was fine, she just needed more hands.

So here I was in the gym, painting away at the large paper. I'd admit it when I said that I blushed when I saw Peter walk into the gym to take pictures, and subconsciously touched my hair that was pinned up. To be honest, my hair being up was really efficient. I wasn't constantly pushing it back, or blowing at it to keep it out of my face. I knew there was a reason I liked my hair up!

Well, a less awkward reason, I guess.

The banner looked really great, actually. My friend, a couple of other girls, and I worked pretty hard on it (though I still thought my part was shit) but it was worth it!

That is, until Flash knocked the basketball out of another player's hand during the game that they were playing, and the ball came right over towards us. The ball then knocked a can of blue paint _all_ over the banner.

"No!" I protested. Growling, I stood up, balling my hands into fists. "What the hell, Flash? You did that on purpose!"

"No, but I should've," He retorted. "You better watch your back."

Okay, I know that ever since the day that I punched him, Flash has hated me, but I never imagined that he'd openly threat me. "Did you just threaten me?" I asked him. I turned to one of the girls I was painting with. "Did he just threaten me?" I asked them, and she just slightly shrugged. Fuming, I started rolling up my sleeves even farther up so that I don't get his blood on my white cardigan. "Oh, that is _it_..." He was going to learn the hard way that you don't mess with Madeline Beckett.

"Mads!" Peter called, running over to me. He stuck his arm out to stop me from going over to Flash, and he just slightly shook his head. Then he reached down and fixed the can of paint that Flash knocked over. "You alright?" He asked us.

I was not okay, but then again, I was permanently filled with anger, so that wasn't really much of a change. That was when Flash knocked the ball out of another player's hand again, but _deliberately_ knocked it our direction. I was about to tell Peter to watch out, but he just casually leaned over and caught the ball with one hand, easy.

This was not the clumsy boy that I knew. Was the spider bite really having this much of an effect on him? I must have had a clearly bewildered look on my face, because Peter just grinned at me in response, as if saying, "I know, right?"

"Give it up, Parker!" Flash shouted.

Peter gave me this mischievous smile, and I knew he was up to something. "One sec," He called back to Flash, before he handed me his camera.

"What are you planning?" I whispered frantically to him. I had a feeling that I wasn't going to like his plan.

"Just watch," He responded, before going over to the middle of the court. He held out the ball towards Flash. "Why don't you take it from me?"

Had the man _completely _lost his mind? He'd be dead before he can even become Spider-Man! Though, didn't that happen after he gets bitten by the spider? Again, wrong person to send here.

A few of Flash's followers called out words of encouragement as Peter held out the ball. "Go ahead, take it."

I didn't want to be attending his funeral, but I had a funny feeling that I shouldn't mess with what he was doing.

And my funny feeling turned true when Flash reached for the ball, but it was already in Peter's other hand. Literally, I blinked, and it was in his left hand.

Not breaking his facial expression, Flash reached for the ball again, but this time, I saw Peter swinging the ball behind his back so that it was back in his right hand, his right arm extended. Flash went for the ball again, but Peter spun Flash around with one hand, while he spun the ball around his head with the other. With Flash's back to Peter, Peter threw the ball at his back so that it bounced off and right back into Peter's hand.

The man may have a death wish, but it was probably the best thing I'd ever seen since I'd gotten here.

Then, Peter made a move to throw the ball at Flash again, but faked out last minute. He got the reaction that he wanted though. Flash made a move to cover himself. "Just take it," Peter told him. He even went so far as to cover his eyes.

"This cannot end well," I muttered.

Flash was able to touch the basketball this time, but when he tried to pull it off of Peter's hand, it wouldn't budge. Almost as if it was stuck to his hand.

Too many spider references and I was starting to get a bit grossed out, no matter how cute Peter was. I mean, what?

Peter started bouncing the basketball, and Flash started yelling at Peter to, "Bring it."

Oh, and Peter brought it, all right. He pushed Flash clean out of the way so easily that it was almost like Flash had the same weight as a feather before leaping right in the air. I wasn't all that familiar with basketball, but what Peter was attempting looked like a slam dunk.

One that he did not miss either. It went right through the hoop. Now that would have been really amazing, if Peter didn't also cause the glass backboard to shatter into a million pieces as it showered to the ground.

Peter Parker was in _big trouble_. Eddie's right, I was the worst mentor _ever_.

* * *

Unfortunately, I didn't get the chance to see Peter afterwards, but I knew I had to return his camera to him. I would have done it after school, but Gwen and I were going shopping after school and I didn't know how late I'd be, and I didn't know if Peter was going to need his camera later.

That, and the idea of Peter getting in trouble were the only thoughts racing in my head as I waited for the bell to ring. It finally did, signaling the end of the class. I practically leaped out of my seat before running outside and into the halls.

I finally spotted Peter with his Uncle Ben. They looked deep in conversation, but then Ben's eyes locked with mine for a few seconds before he looked back at Peter. He said something to him, before calling louder to me, "You're on his computer."

That made me blush to the tips of my ears. Was I really? I mean, with Ben, I wouldn't really know if he was joking or not, but the thing was, I wouldn't put it past Peter to do that either. You know what? It probably wasn't just a picture of just me.

It didn't kill my blush, though, and when Ben left Peter, I kind of didn't want to go up to him. I had become shy around Peter Parker. Who would have thought that this day would come?

Suck it up, Beckett. I took a deep breath in, before walking over to Peter. I forced a smile as he finally made eye contact with me. Peter half laughed and half scoffed. "Mads, you know Uncle Ben. He's a pathelogical liar."

"So, I'm not on your computer?" I asked. I tried to make it sound like I was joking around, but I was being totally serious.

"No, I mean I took a picture of the art club, and you are in the art club," Peter explained.

"Right," I said, dragging the word out.

Peter looked back to where Ben had left. "So, he must have seen it like that." He made a drawing gesture with his hand. "I was touching up stuff..."

I choked back my laugh. "Really?" I asked, praying my voice wouldn't get all high and squeaky.

Peter seemed to realize how he had worded what he said, and he began to laugh nervously. Again, avoiding my gaze, but I was okay with it this time because I was avoiding his. "I'm not even going to answer that," He laughed.

"Not your best, worded, sentence," I stuttered. Great, now I was stuttering! Seriously, I was going to beat myself up at home even harder than I was right now. I quickly changed the subject. "You didn't get expelled, did you?"

"No, I didn't get expelled," Peter answered. "I just got community service."

Eye contact with Peter was quickly making me nervous, so I broke his gaze by reaching into my bag and pulling out his camera. "You left this with me. Figured you would want it back."

"Thanks," He said, slowly taking it from me.

Before I could stop myself, I stated something that had been bothering me all day. "You're not wearing your glasses today."

Peter's hands went to his face where his glasses would have rested. "Oh, yeah. I'm not."

"That's a shame, you looked cute with them on," I blurted, and as soon as the words left my mouth, I wanted to swallow them back into me.

Because Peter Parker got the same look on his face that I usually get whenever he's talking to me. Like, he knew that I was uncomfortable but he went along with it anyways, laughing as he nodded his head.

"I mean," I quickly stuttered. "I just think that you look nice with your glasses on."

"So you're still thinking of me," Peter concluded as I felt my face burn hotter.

Peter and I had something in common. When we were around people we like, we laughed. Like, a lot. I don't know, I just felt like laughing would break an awkward silence. I had no idea why, though. It didn't break the ice very well. "You know what? I'm just going to go to my next class before I die of awkwardness."

Peter laughed again. "Oh, there's no reason to be awkward."

"Oh, there really is," I said, before turning around to leave. My face must have been as red as a tomato. Since when did Peter Parker hold that kind of power over me?

"Uh, Mads?" His voice stopped me.

I spun around on my heel so that I was facing him again. "Yeah?"

"Did you maybe...I don't know...want to...um..." Peter stumbled over himself.

Was Peter asking me out? Whoa, this was _not_ how I saw this going.

"Are you free later tonight?" I asked before I really had time to process what I was saying.

"Uh, yeah," He said quickly. "Yeah, I am."

"I want to see the pictures that you take," I told him, and I actually did. It seemed like him and that camera were inseparable. It wasn't a _date_, I just wanted to see his pictures. That was all. "I'll come over to your house later."

"Yeah, okay!" He said, trying not to show that he was really excited, which was really cute. "Do you know where I live?"

I gave him a blank look. "Peter, we live next door to each other," I said slowly. Was the guy really that flustered?

"Oh, right," He said, shaking his head. "What time?"

"I'll call before I come over, how's that?" I offered. School ended at around 3, and Gwen and I would shop for at least a few hours, and I'd be home by 6. Then, an hour or two at Parker's, and my day comes to an end!

"Perfect!" He smiled.

I gave him a little wave as I turned around, "See you later," I said to him.

He lifted his hand and gave me a wave back. "See you later."

If I was going to help guide him as Spider-Man, I should get to know him, shouldn't I? So, this was technically _not_ a date, it was just research.

I turned my head to see if Peter left, and I had to cover my mouth with both of my hands to stop myself from laughing out loud at the sight of Peter walking away from me, a literal skip in his step.

Would it really be so bad if it _was _a date?

* * *

As I predicted, I shopped with Gwen until about seven thirty, an hour and a half later than I expected. I took a cab home, but when I called the Parker house, no one was answering. Instead of going over there, I just deduced that Peter was running late. Not like I cared so much. I could do my research another time.

Nemo needed a walk, so I decided that a late night walk was the perfect distraction. I slipped on track pants, a long sleeved shirt, and a sweater before going out the door at nine o'clock PM. There were no lights on at the Parker house, which was a bit odd. Usually someone was home at this time.

I didn't let it bother me as I stuck a pair of headphones in my ears as I began walking. I lost myself in the music and kind of zoned out. When I zoned back in, I realized how far I had been walking. I had ended up by some convenience stores, and when I checked my phone, it was around nine forty. Shelia must be getting worried.

I was about to head back when I heard a bunch of scuffling, and a gunshot. Gasping, I grabbed Nemo before I ducked behind a dumpster, praying that whoever shot the gun couldn't see me. Someone breezed past me, and at first, I was too frozen in fear to move.

But then the screams of a familiar voice brought the life back to me.

I came out from behind the dumpster and realized that my horrible thoughts were true.

Ben Parker had been shot.

Peter was there, applying pressure to his wound as he cried and called for someone to phone for an ambulance. Completely forgetting about Nemo, I reached into my pocket and pulled out my phone, quickly calling an ambulance to tell them where we were.

I then ran over to Peter, who kept muttering "Oh God" and Ben's name as his shaking hands pressed on the wound. I dropped down next to him, peeling my sweater off. I don't think Peter even noticed that I was there until I tried moving his hands.

"No!" He shouted, and I flinched. I actually flinched. Peter's eyes were flooded with tears, and I think they started going double time when he realized that it was me. "Mads?" He whispered.

I nodded, somehow managing to keep it together. I didn't know Ben Parker all that well, but from what I've seen and what I actually listened to my brothers say, he was a good person. I tried to fight tears of my own as I pressed my sweater to Ben's wound so that my sweater collected the blood instead of it going all over Peter's hands.

Eventually an ambulance showed up, and I slowly wrapped my arms around Peter as I pulled him away from Ben so they could put him on the stretcher. I made no move to help him up. If Peter needed to sit for a while, then he could sit. He leaned his head on my shoulder, and I just squeezed him tighter to my side as I felt his tears beginning to stain my shirt. Did I care, though? Absolutely not.

The police, however, had to take Peter home, but Peter wouldn't leave that spot unless I could leave with him. I was the only one that hadn't broken. I was his rock, and I needed to be there for him.

So we were both loaded into the police car and taken back to our homes. We were just lucky that we live next door.

I wanted to go into the house with Peter, but he just told me to go home. I decided not to push it. Peter needed time; he needed space. And I could understand that. Ben was practically his father. He and May needed time to privately mourn, which I gladly gave them.

Imagine my mother's reaction when I got home at ten thirty PM covered in blood.

At first, she screamed because she thought that it was mine. But then I told her it was Ben Parker's, and she started crying. She had been good friends with Ben, and couldn't believe that he was gone. I couldn't even believe it. She immediately went over to the Parker house to comfort May.

I wandered numbly up to the bathroom. I peeled off my clothes before stepping into the shower to wash away the blood and after effects of Ben's death. I guess I thought if I could wash everything that happened away, it didn't really happen.

But it still did. There were still police cars surrounding Peter's house when I looked out the window after my shower. I could still hear Peter's sobs, I could still feel the way his body shook as I held him.

"I'm so sorry," Eddie whispered beside me.

I turned my head so that I was looking at him. "Why didn't you tell me this happened? I could have stopped it! If you had told me, Ben Parker would still be here!"

"Ben Parker needed to die," Eddie explained in a calm voice. "If he didn't then Spider-Man wouldn't exist! The story and path of Spider-Man would never have been created."

"You didn't see him Eddie," I told him, looking back out my window to stare at Peter's window. "You didn't hear him, you didn't feel him. Ben Parker is dead. Peter just lost the only father that he ever knew, and you're more concerned with Spider-Man." I felt anger building up inside of me, though I wasn't sure where it came from. "Well, I'm not! I don't care about Spider-Man! I care about Peter Parker. I care, that Peter Parker is being destroyed in the house right next to me!"

"Then that means it's working."

"_What_ is working?"

"You being Peter's guide. You had to care about him as a person first, before you started caring about what will happen to him and his future." Eddie came beside me, and put two hands on my arms. "You need to be strong, for him. As his guide, you need to be there to support him in everything that he does, or goes through."

"I care about him," I said. "I would have supported him, anyways."

"Then for the next little bit, all you focus on is helping Peter get through this," Eddie instructed.

I nodded numbly, and Eddie disappeared with a final, "I'm sorry."

I walked back over to the window, sitting on the window sill as I wished for nothing more than to be comforting Peter Parker right now.

* * *

**TBC...**

**How did you guys like it? It was Ben's death, so I want it to be as good as it can possibly be!**

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**REVIEW RESPONSES**

_**Shannyrox101: **_GET OUT WITH YOUR ADORABLE REVIEW! I very nearly cried after I read it. You have no idea how much these kinds of words lift my spirits and inspire me! I like that you think that Mads is headstrong, because she literally doesn't take shit from anybody, as evidence when she tried to beat up Flash again in this chapter. I almost melted when you said that you think that Mads and Peter are like two pieces of a puzzle, because it made me think that I'm doing their romance right. And I'm sorry that you sulked that it was only three chapters, but I literally started it last Saturday. However, a long weekend is coming up for me, so hopefully I'll either upload more chapters, or longer ones, because I'll have the time to write them long. Also, I describe things really vividly because I am literally watching the movie as I write (which is usually why the chapters take a long time to write, I get too sucked up in the adorkableness that is Andrew Garfield) so I try to write them as if I was actually there. Thank you so much for the review!

_**yappycherub:**_Thanks for the review! And no way in hell am I abandoning this story. Truth be told, I'm trying to finish it really quick because it's a movie, so the fanfic won't take as long.

_**WalkingInAWinterWonderlandxx**_: You're welcome for the dedication! Your review warmed my heart so much that I needed to put an ice pack on it to cool it down XD. I'm glad that you've read some of my other stories! If it's not too much trouble, which ones have you read? And I never thought that someone would get hooked on my writing, so what you said made me want to cry (I am a very emotional person deal with it). And I'm glad that this story is interesting enough that you don't pay attention in class and almost cry XD. And here is your update!

_**ranners5661: **_Thank you! It always warms my heart when I find out that people read my other fanfictions, because I'm like "YAY YOU FIND MY WRITING INTERESTING ENOUGH TO CHECK OUT MY OTHER STUFF". And thank you for thinking that I'm so good! I swear, most plot twists I don't even plan until I'm writing an actual chapter, so I'm glad that you like them! AND OMFG YOU STARTED WATCHING THE WALKING DEAD BECAUSE OF ME? DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW BADLY I WANTED TO CRY WHEN I FOUND THAT OUT? YOU TOOK TIME OUT OF YOUR LIFE TO WATCH A TELEVISION SHOW BECAUSE OF A STORY THAT I AM WRITING? AND STOP IT WITH THE COMPLIMENTS! YOU ARE SERIOUSLY MAKING ME WANT TO CRAWL INTO A BALL AND SOB. AND I TRULY APOLOGIZE FOR GETTING YOU INTO FANFICTION BECAUSE HONEY YOU'RE TRAPPED FOR GOOD.

_**grapejuice101: **_I like that you love it! AND HERE IS YOUR CHAPTER!

_** : **_Thank you for being the first reviewer of this chapter! And here's more!

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**REVIEW! FOLLOW! FAVOURITE! THANKS! STAY TUNED!**


	5. Free Falling

**Disclaimer: **I do not own The Amazing Spider-Man! I only own my OC, "Madeline Beckett" and any other characters I make up along the way!

**Author's Note:** I hope you guys are proud of yourselves for making me cry every morning when I wake up and read reviews. Like, I hear my phone buzzing throughout the night telling me that I have emails (that are your lovely reviews) and I always leave it to the morning, so that I have something to be happy about before I leave for the hellhole that is school :)

And guess what? I'M SEEING THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2 ON FRIDAY! I was supposed to go today but it got sold out -_- Whatever! I still get to see it! I'm really excited because not only do I get to watch Andrew Garfield for two and a half hours, but I get to start making ideas for the sequel to this story! YES, YOU HEARD IT HERE FIRST! THERE IS GOING TO BE A SEQUEL, AND I'M PLANNING FOR IT TO FOLLOW THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2!

Also, 56 FOLLOWERS? REALLY? This story has only been up for a week! It only has four chapters! You guys are honestly the best readers!

CUTE STUFF IN THIS CHAPTER (BE HAPPY BECAUSE ORIGINALLY SOMETHING ELSE WAS GONNA HAPPEN AND MADS AND PETER WOULD HAVE GOTTEN INTO A FIGHT).

**Enjoy!**

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I didn't see Peter much after that night. I mean, we lived next door to each other and I'd seen him in school, but he never said a lot. Just a "hi" and a "bye" whenever I passed by him, and I couldn't blame him. And I didn't want to.

I tried approaching him in the always (after Flash expressed his condolences about Peter losing Ben) but he just brushed me off. So I gave him time.

Time to mourn, time to think, time to figure out what he wanted to do. I figured after a few days I'd try again.

But a few days quickly turned into a week, and then two weeks, and before I knew it I had almost completely forgotten why I was here.

That is, until Eddie returned.

After Ben's death, Eddie left me alone like I did with Peter. I guess he could sense that I was beyond pissed off at him that he didn't tell me about Ben's death, so he gave me time to cool off. But after a couple of weeks, he came back.

The first time I saw him, I was dusting the shelves in the living room when Shelia switched on the news. Apparently, they were looking for a guy in a red mask, who was attacking people.

Didn't Spider-Man have a red mask?

I dropped everything in my hands before running up the stairs into my room, where Eddie was waiting for me. "Are you kidding? Peter's started the path of Spider-Man without me?"

"Well, you're not really needed at this particular stage," Eddie supplied.

"Then why wasn't I brought in when I was needed?" I asked him.

"Uhhh..." He stuttered, and then quickly disappeared.

The second time, it was pretty late the same night (around eight thirty), and I was just laying down on my bed, contemplating if I should go over to Peter's house, just to see how he was doing, when Eddie materialized beside me.

At this point, I didn't get surprised anymore. I just turned my head in his direction. "How do I talk to him?" I asked him. "I want to go over...I want to help him. I just don't know how."

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but I think the best thing for you to do right now is just leave Peter alone to deal with his feelings," Eddie told me.

I turned my head so that I was facing the ceiling again. "I don't want to leave him alone, though! Peter is going through the worst thing ever and all I want is to be sitting beside him."

"Then it's still working," Eddie commented.

Then we both just sat there, a comfortable silence looming around us. I tried to let my mind be at peace, but I couldn't. I was thinking about how I was the worst mentor ever.

"But how is that supposed to work?" I asked Eddie.

"What?" He asked.

"How do you expect me to guide Peter Parker to become Spider-Man if I can't even guide the guy to feeling better?" I questioned. "I shouldn't be sitting here," I said, and pushed myself off of the bed. "I should be over there. Doing something. I shouldn't just be sitting here thinking about what I could be doing when I can just go out there and do it!"

Eddie sat up as he grinned at me.

"What's that look for?" I asked him.

"Nothing," Eddie said as he slid off of my bed. "It's just, you came to that conclusion on your own. I didn't have to tell you anything. You want to help Peter."

"Of course I want to help Peter!" I said. "Peter's my friend, and I don't like it when he's sad. I'm going to go over there right now, and see if he's okay," I told myself confidently. I looked over at my window and saw Peter sitting at his computer, looking very deep in thought. "Maybe I shouldn't interrupt that though."

"Mads, come on!" Eddie protested. "Just go over there. You said that you wanted to help him!"

"Yeah, but look at him!" I retorted. "He looks fine."

"Mads?" I heard, and it wasn't anyone in this house's voice. Eddie and I turned our heads to my open window to see Peter sticking his head out his window.

I gave Eddie a mini glare before turning to the window, putting my head out my own window.

"Yeah?" I called out.

"Are you okay? I heard you yelling," He told me.

I growled under my breath. "Yeah, I'm fine."

Peter looked like he was just going to close his window and go back about his daily business, but he hesitated. "Are you busy right now?"

"Right now?" I asked, and looked back into my room where Eddie was staring back at me. He was giving me a thumbs up.

I rolled my eyes at him before turning back to Peter. "No, I'm free. Why?"

"Meet me outside," He said, and I furrowed my eyebrows.

"Why?"

"Just do it," He said, pulling his head back and shutting his window closed.

I did the same, and when I turned around, Eddie was giving me a grin. "Go on! There is a boy waiting for you outside."

"I can't! If Shelia found out that I snuck out of the house, she'd kill me," I informed him.

"She's sleeping, she'll never know," Eddie insisted.

"She's sleeping _on the couch_. I'm pretty sure that she'd hear me leave out the door."

Eddie looked from my door to the window, and a smirk crept up on his face as he looked over at me.

My stomach dropped when I realized what he was talking about. "No. No, no, no, no. I am not jumping out my window."

He shrugged. "Then _you_ won't jump."

Wait, he's not going to...? "Don't you _dare_..."

Too late. He was already making his way towards me, and slithered his way into my body. I fought against him as he took me over to the window, opening it again before he pushed us out.

And then he left my body as soon as I was falling. I don't think I screamed, because it was a short distance, but I didn't hit the ground. Peter had caught me.

My arms went around his neck, and one arm went behind my back, and the other was tucked under my legs. I was breathless as I gripped his neck, struggling to regain a proper breathing pattern. I was just shoved out a window against my will. I could have _died._

So why was the only thing I could focus on be the way that Peter's eyes have a little extra glow? That his little eyelashes were so long, and blended perfectly together when he blinked.

"Why did you jump out the window?" He asked me.

I shook my head slightly, trying to push the day dream out of my head. This reminded me of the day that I first met him. "What?"

He sighed as he put me down. "Why did you jump out of the window? Are you okay?"

"Oh, yeah," I said, smoothening my shirt down before looking back up at my window. "My mom was sleeping. On the couch. I didn't want to wake her up, so the window seemed like the best option."

He laughed slightly, before offering his hand to me. My heart hammered in my chest as I took it, and I almost melted into goo as I felt his fingers intertwine with mine.

Peter gave me a nervous look, as if he was saying, "Is this okay?".

I just responded by leaning into him, letting my arm rest gently against his. "So. Where to?"

We just walked for a long time. There wasn't much talking, either. Maybe ten minutes later, Peter stopped me and told me to close my eyes. I did so, but I wanted to know where Peter was taking me, so I decided to peek a little. I guess Peter could tell I was going to do that, because he walked around me, and covered my eyes with his own hands.

"Is that really necessary?" I asked him.

"I know you, Madeline Beckett," He said, and we started walking again. "You were going to peek."

I would have said, "I was not!" But Peter probably would have seen through the lie.

"Are we there yet?" I asked him.

"Almost."

I paused. "Are we there yet?"

"Wait, Mads."

Silence.

"Are we there yet?"

"I can see you haven't changed."

"Clearly," I mumbled. "Now are we here yet?" I asked and stopped walking. I could feel Peter stop walking behind me, so we must finally be here. After a seconds hesitation, he took his hands away, and when I opened my eyes, I gasped.

He had taken me to a park. And yeah, it doesn't sound all that exciting. But it was a very...bright park. What I mean by that was that it looked like he had taken dozens of Christmas lights and strung them up around the park and in the trees.

Jaw slacked, I walked farther into the park area, letting my hands trace the wires. I lightly touched the little bulbs. Little, but shining very bright.

Kind of like Peter.

"What is all of this?" I asked him, turning around.

I couldn't fight the smile on my face as Peter smiled awkwardly, looking down at his toes and shuffling his feet. "I did promise you that I'd show you my pictures. I just thought that this would be cooler."

"You mean, our date?" I asked him. This was so sweet of him! We were supposed to go on a date before Ben passed. "Don't worry, it definitely is."

"Listen, Madeline," Peter started, and I looked back at him. "I just wanted to say that I'm sorry. I'm sorry about the way that I've been treating you lately. I know all you've been doing is trying to help, and I want to thank you for that."

"It's okay," I told him, and it was. "I know you were going through some stuff. I did want to help you through it, but I also thought that maybe a bit of time is what you needed. Besides," I looked all around me. "This totally makes up for it."

"Do you really like it?" He asked, suddenly very worried.

I gently laughed. "Yes, I like it. I-I love it, actually," I said, looking around me. I looked back at him, and he had a nervous smile on his face. I gave him a smile of my own as I walked over to him. "Nobody has ever done anything like this for me before. It's the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me," I told him, giving him a large, rather goofy smile. "Thank you, Peter." And I leaned right over, wrapping my arms around his neck in a hug.

I could feel him wrap his arms around my back, and he pressed me to his body. I had never felt so special in my whole life. Peter did all of this...for _me_.

I pulled back, but my arms were still around his neck. I felt his arms slip from down my back, to one hand on each hip. It seemed like Peter and I were looking into each other's eyes forever; we probably were. My heart was already picking up it's pace, but when I noticed Peter leaning in slightly, my heart kicked into hyper drive. I could tell his was too, because I could feel it drumming against my own chest.

Heart in my throat, I leaned closer a bit more to Peter, as if letting him know what he wanted to do was okay. My eyes fluttered shut, and I waited for the contact of his lips...

It never came, though. There was sudden yelling from the streets where we were. This was New York City. I guess they stuck parks wherever they could. Anyways, it looked like there was a lot of stuff going on, and when I opened my eyes again, Peter was looking off at the commotion.

"What is it?" I asked him, trying not to sulk. "What's wrong?"

"I have to-uh," Peter stammered, looking back at me. "I have to go, but I'll be right back, I promise," He said, though it looked like he _really_ didn't want to go.

I wanted him to stay here, show me his pictures and maybe a bit more, but I knew that this city needed Spider-Man more than I needed Peter Parker. "Okay," I said simply, taking my arms away from his neck.

"Just, stay here," He advised, pointing to the bench that was in the park. "And I promise I'll be back." And then he grabbed his backpack and took off.

I know I shouldn't feel ditched (because I wasn't) but I couldn't help but feel ditched.

I crossed my legs, put my arms on my knees, before setting my chin in my hands. I was sitting there for a couple seconds by myself. Until I felt Eddie's presence beside me, and when I turned my head, he was there.

"What are you doing, just sitting here?" Eddie asked.

"I'm waiting for Peter to come back," I answered.

He stood up and walked over so that he was standing in front of me. "You could be doing so much more to help at the bridge than just sitting here."

"Hey! Peter told me to stay here, so I'm staying here. Besides, it's probably dangerous. And I'm still sulking!"

"Kid, unless you get off your butt, you are not going to have a boy to kiss!" He said, grabbed my arm and forcing me to stand up.

"Even if I did want to help, I could _not_ get there fast enough to help them," I told him. "Peter's got those things on his wrist-" I mimed the web-y things that Spider-Man has. "-so he moves fast! I only have two human legs. And I'm not even fit!"

"And that's why you have me," Eddie answered, putting both his hands on my arms. "Close your eyes."

"Why?"

"Just do it!"

"Fine," I grumbled, shutting my eyes. When I opened them again, I was shocked to see that I was no longer standing in the park, but at the bridge, where chaos was erupting.

Eddie brought me _right in the middle of danger?_

Oh he was a great mentor, all right.

"SOMEBODY HELP ME!" A man shouted to my left, and when I looked all around for someone else to help other than me, but my eyes fell on him.

Spider-Man.

_Finally._

I had finally seen the guy I was supposed to guide. Unfortunately, he was rather busy, and I couldn't seem to find anybody else. Holding my breath, I ran over to the man, pushing past people running in hysterics. "What is it? What's wrong?"

"It's my son," He said, pointing down the spider webbing. I leaned over, seeing that the webbing was attached to a car at the end, hanging precariously over the bridge. Once I strained to hear, I heard the desperate screams of a little boy. "He's stuck and I can't get him out!"

I was about to suggest something crazy, when I saw Peter flying down to the car. My heart swelled in relief. I turned to the man. "Your son is going to be okay," I assured him.

"How do you know?" He asked, leaning down to watch Peter help the boy.

I smiled. "Because that's Spider-Man. He's not going to let anything happen to your kid."

And that was when Spider-Man took his mask off.

And I could tell it was my brown eyed, brown haired, awkward, pure hearted idiot. Now I had an idea on what to tell Peter about how I know that he's Spider-Man. Maybe if I could tell him, we could get this guiding thing going.

I was so distracted by my own thoughts that I didn't even notice that the car that Peter was trying to get the little boy out of had caught fire. It slipped more towards the water, but Peter grabbed it just before it could.

"JACK, CLIMB NOW!" Peter shouted to the boy, or Jack, I guess. Now that I'd clearly heard his voice, more evidence.

But I was starting to get more worried about Jack, about Peter. The fire in the car was starting to spread, and it looked like Peter was straining himself to keep from letting go of the car. "PUT ON THE MASK!" He shouted to Jack. "IT'S GONNA MAKE YOU STRONG."

I guess Jack did as Peter told, because the next thing that Peter said was, "THERE YOU GO, THAT'S IT BUDDY. NOW CLIMB!"

"COME ON, JACK!" His father encouraged.

Without warning, the heat of the fire caused the webbing that Peter was holding the car with to burn, and the car fell down towards the water.

"No!" The three of us screamed.

But when Peter Parker was here, there was nothing to fear. Thinking quickly, he shot another one of his webs down, catching Jack before he could fall with the car.

Peter pulled the kid up, grabbing him in his arms, before pulling the both of them up, passing Jack to his father. Jack's father graciously took his son in his arms, tears of happiness slipping down his face as he pulled his son to his body as tightly as he could. He looked over at Peter. "Who are you?"

Before Peter could answer, I said, "That's Spider-Man."

Peter looked over at me, and I couldn't decipher the look on his face because he had the mask on, what I was guessing it was probably a look of surprise. I was too distracted by Peter to notice that I had begun to lean on a broken piece of the bridge.

And then the broken piece snapped. I felt myself lose my footing, and I slipped on some rubble. And then I fell off of the bridge.

I held my breath and closed my eyes, waiting to hit the water, but I heard Peter calling, "Madeline!"

I came to an abrupt stop when I felt a sticky webbing around my wrist, and I looked up to see Peter on the other end. I sighed in relief, looking down at the water. But because I slipped, I lost a shoe.

My poor shoe.

Peter swung me over so that I was in the air and when I fell down, I fell right into his arms, like I did when I fell out of my window earlier tonight. We were in the same position as when he caught me when I fell out the window, but this time, I wasn't focusing on his facial features. I think I just found my moment. I opened my mouth.

"How do you know my name?"

* * *

**TBC...**

**DUN DUN DUN**

**Not a particularly long one, BUT WE GOT CUTIENESS!**

**AND A CLIFFY.**

**But sorry about the cliffhanger.**

**AND GOOD THINGS ARE HAPPENING NEXT CHAPTER.**

**Also I'm a very mean person because there was supposed to be a kiss at the end of this chapter, but I've decided to save their first kiss for something more special *prays she doesn't get killed*.**

**It could be worse. I could have given you Peter and Mads angry at each other.**

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**REVIEW RESPONSES**

_**Katyperrylover36: **_YOU STOP IT RIGHT NOW. STOP IT RIGHT THERE WITH YOUR CUTENESS. Yours was the first review that I read for last chapter, and you made me cry. I'm not ashamed to admit it. Thank you for the review, I love it, I love you, and do you REALLY think that I'm an inspiration?

_**grapejuice101: **_WRITING UNCLE BEN'S DEATH WAS SO HARD! Like, I've seen the first Spider-Man with Tobey McGuire like a long ass time ago, so I knew that Ben was going to die, but I still cried my heart out when he did because of Andrew's acting. HE IS SO AMAZING. *ahem* Thank you for the review and I hope you enjoyed this update!

_** : **_Thanks for the review! And haha, really? Mads gets the sleeping in thing from me LOL.

_**Shannyrox101:**_ STOP THAT. STOP IT. YOU ARE MAKING ME CRY. Do I really portray Andrew that good? I'm just basing off of what I've seen in the movie. And it was your birthday?! Happy belated Birthday! Congrats, you get cute Mads and Peter as a present! No, I liked your rant! It really got me thinking...and I do have some plans for the future. Thanks for the review! YOU ARE TOO CUTE NEVER STOP BEING CUTE ALL RIGHT ALL RIGHT.

_** wolf girl: **_Well, Ms. teen wolf girl, ask and you shall recieve! I tried my best to be romantic with them LOL. And yes, all that stuff will be shown AND explained! More backstory regarding what happened to Mads and Peter will be revealed in the next couple of chapters.

_**Marley: **_Marley, I hope you are proud of yourself. You made a fifteen year old girl cry reading your review. Is this really the best ASM fic you've ever read? Because a lot of other people must have seen the movie a lot of times before they started. I started this fanfic based off of a gifset I saw on Tumblr. I haven't even seen the movie when I started! (I watched it all today though). And I hope you are holding on to your hat with the news THAT THERE SHALL BE A SEQUEL! THANKS FOR THE REVIEW AND I HOPE YOU ENJOYED THIS UPDATE!

_**WalkingInAWinterWonderlandxx: **_YAY FOR YOU READING MY VAMPIRE DIARIES AND WALKING DEAD FICS! I should really update those...but I want to finish this story first, because it's a movie and will be done faster. AND I KNOW I'M CHEESY I'M AS CHEESY AS MELTED SWISS AND CHEDDAR ON CRACKERS. WE SHALL BE CHEESE BUDDIES IT IS DECIDED. And really? Because our teachers get on our case even if we're just checking the damn time. AND YAY BLESS YOUR SOUL! I hope you liked this chapter!

_**KnellaLuna: **_Thanks for the review, and here is more!

_**Meimei555: **_Let me get this straight: You've NEVER seen an episode of the Vampire Diaries, and you LIKE MY VAMPIRE DIARIES ONE? Which one? I have a few of them. BUT THAT IS SO COOL OF YOU OMFG. And I promise to try and update my Merlin one and my other ones as soon as this fanfic is over! (and maybe even earlier!) I hope you enjoyed this chap!

_**maison:**_ Aww, thanks! Here's your update!

_**BreeBree12345: **_*crawls into a ball* What is it with you guys and making me cry? You're all too fabulous for words! HERE IS YOUR UPDATE PERSON TOO FABULOUS FOR WORDS.

_**Felicia (even though you're technically not reviewing for chapter 4): **_IS THIS SERIOUSLY THE BEST FANFIC OF TASM THAT YOU PEOPLE READ? IT'S NOT EVEN THAT GOOD, I SWEAR! And trust me, this story, shall NEVER be let go. I love my stories that I've put so much thought into to let them go. My very first Vampire Diaries fanfiction, I was seriously thinking about stopping it because I've been hating the way the Vampire Diaries has been going, but I decided not to, because a) I love my characters way too much to just let them go and they've developed so awesomely and b) so many people are invested in this story and I know that I hate it when people just let go of really great stories, so while chapters might not come so frequently, they will still come. Thanks for loving this story! I hope you liked this chapter!

**REVIEW! FOLLOW! FAVOURITE! THANKS! STAY TUNED!**


	6. Everything is New

**Disclaimer: **I do not own The Amazing Spider-Man! I only own my OC, "Madeline Beckett" and any other characters I make up along the way!

**Author's Note:** You guys are so mean.

YOU DIDN'T WARN ME ABOUT THE MOVIE.

I couldn't even with it, it was so sad. I knew what was going to happen, so I guess that's why I didn't cry as much as I thought I was going to.

BUT THERE WAS A GOOD THING THAT CAME OUT OF SEEING THIS MOVIE!

I have some really amazing ideas for the sequel! (And by amazing I mean that you guys are going to hate me sooooooooo much and I'm not even sorry).

**Enjoy!**

* * *

"What do you mean?" Peter asked, in his usual nervous way.

He jumped off of the bridge rail and set me down on solid ground. "I mean, that you know my name, even though I haven't told you it. How do you know my name?"

I couldn't see Peter's face, but I could tell that he was starting to get really uncomfortable. He had gotten caught, and he had no way out.

"What do you mean?" Peter repeated, stepping away from me. "You told me your name."

"No, I didn't."

"Yes, you did."

"No, I didn't."

"Yes, you did."

"Listen buddy, I would have remembered telling you that my name was Madeline Beckett. And I didn't," I said, stepping closer to him, trying to catch his gaze. "How do you know my name?"

"I overheard it," He answered, scratching the back of his head.

"You overheard it," I repeated, amusing him. "Right. And exactly where did you overhear it?"

"Oh, here and there," He said with a shrug.

"Here and there," I said, crossing my arms. "Well, since you are my friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man, can I confide in you?"

I could tell that Peter was nervous under his mask, but I couldn't really see it. "Yeah sure, but maybe we should get out of here first."

"What? Why?" I asked, and that's when I heard the police sirens. And then I remembered that Spider-Man and the police didn't really get along.

To my surprise, Peter grabbed my arm and tugged me right to him, so that I was snuggled into his side. My arms automatically went around his neck so that I could keep my balance. "Hold on tight, okay?"

"But why-" I started to ask, but I got my answer when I suddenly felt myself flying in the air. And because I was wearing really crappy shoes, my other shoe flew off of my foot as soon as we took off.

I didn't notice all that much though. All I could pay attention to for a few seconds was the way that the wind flew through my hair, the fresh air flowing deep in my lungs. Then I noticed the webbing coming out of Peter's wrist. For some reason, I always assumed that the webbing was just built into Spider-Man after he got bitten by the spider. But no, every time that Peter uses it, I noticed that he's actually pressing a button on his wrist.

It was mesmerizing to watch a hero at work. Peter's arm muscles tensed and relaxed as he pressed the buttons as we flew through the air. The muscles in his arms became more apparent as he did so, and I am not complaining one little bit.

The cars and buildings underneath us was the biggest blur, but I was fascinated by it. A huge smile crossed my face as I burst into a laugh. I clutched at Peter's neck tighter as I turned my head to look at his face. I couldn't decipher anything, but the chuckles coming from his chest made me think that he was smiling.

Also, having that mask must be pretty convenient. My hair was getting all up in my face because of the wind.

All too soon, Peter gently put me back down on the ground, even though I was barefoot. I looked around me and noticed that I was back at the park. A sneaky smile crossed my face as I turned back to face Peter, putting my hands on my hips. "Can I confide in you now?"

"Yeah, sure," Peter said.

"So tonight, I was on a date," I told him. "Well, at least I think it was a date. I was out with this guy that I think I really like."

I could see Peter's muscles tense at my words. "Really?"

I nodded. "Yup. I don't know if you've heard his name here and there, but his name is Peter, Peter Parker?"

"I think I've heard of him," Peter said, his voice tight with anticipation.

I had to hold back my laugh as I said, "Well, Peter was the guy I was out with tonight."

"Oh, you-you think you like, Peter?" He asked, crossing his arms.

"What, you're not jealous, are you Spider-Man?" I asked teasingly.

"What? No," Peter spluttered, before he started laughing. "No, I'm-I'm not."

"So you're saying that I'm not attractive enough for someone to feel jealousy?" I inquired. This was too much fun. I was so horrible.

"What? No!" Peter stammered. "I mean, you're beautiful, and funny, and smart, and kind, and all kinds of wonderful. And there's this little thing that you do with your eyebrows when you get confused that's really cute, and the way your eyes light up whenever you get excited about something is the cutest thing. And, and when you wear your hair up, you can see all of your face, which is good because you have a very beautiful face. The way-the way that you twiddled your thumbs when you get bored just drives me crazy because all I want to do is hold your hands so that you have something to do. The way people look at you...it's like they're looking at the sun for the very first time. Every guy should be jealous of the guy that you're with."

My heart swelled with each word. I actually felt tears forming at what he was saying, and I had to choke them back. I wanted to say something-anything. But there was only one thing that I wanted to do right now.

Also, it seemed like it was the best timing. It had started to rain.

The smile never leaving my face, I gingerly walked over to Peter. He stood in his spot, unmoving as I made my way to him. The droplets of water came down slowly at first, but then started coming down harder with each step that I took towards Peter.

Now I was standing so close to him that our chests touched. I carefully reached up to his mask. He recoiled slightly, and I hesitated with what I wanted to do. Peter, however, got over his hesitation, because he brought himself back to the position he was in before. I hesitated for another second before bringing my hands up to his neck, where the start of his mask was. My hands were getting slightly cold, but I didn't let that stop me as my fingers settled on the base of his neck.

I noticed the lump in Peter's throat, and I think he knew what I was going to do. Gingerly, I slid my fingers underneath the flap of the mask. I felt him shiver, which sent a quick shiver down my spine. Carefully, ever so slowly, I inched his mask up. It was like with every move I took, I expected Peter to stop me. But he never did.

I was surprised when he let me move his mask so far up, but I stopped when I could fully see his lips, and only his lips. I could sense his confusion as to why I stopped, but I think he got it after I looked up at him, staring right into the whiteness of his eye covers.

I swallowed the lump in my throat. My fingers lightly trace the line of Peter's lips, and I felt him melt into my touch, turning me into a puddle. I couldn't take it anymore. I moved my hands to his shoulders. I finally leaned in, closing the gap between us.

I think Peter was surprised that I actually did it, because he froze up at first (I have no idea why he was surprised, I fully made it look like I was going to kiss him) but after two seconds he was kissing me back, his hands snaking around my waist.

He tasted of all sorts of things. Rain, softness, sweetness, a little bit of roughness. To be honest, I never thought that Peter liked me so much. And I never thought that I liked Peter so much. Before, I was just teasing. At least, I thought I was.

Those little fun times that I had teasing Peter, or the rare occasion when Peter managed to tease me, where just cover ups of what I was actually feeling-I was falling for Peter Parker. And I think that should scare me, but you know what? It doesn't. It really doesn't.

My mouth molded perfectly with his as the rain fell on us harder every second. Peter's left hand moved up from my back to cup the back of my neck and tangle this fingers through my hair, and his right hand moved to cup my cheek, deepening our kiss more than it already was. My hands moved from his shoulder up to his neck, before I completely wrapped myself around Peter. The way we were kissing each other was like we were each other's air. If we stopped, we'd stop breathing.

And that's when we both came back to reality. Because in reality, one does have to breath. Reluctantly, I pulled away from Peter, trying to catch my breath. My lips felt like they were bruised, but I liked the feeling. I couldn't help the smile that etched itself on my face, and I could tell that Peter couldn't either. He was wearing the exact same look on his face as me. I looked back at the white part where Peter's eyes-his cute little brown eyes-were supposed to be.

I moved my hands from his neck back to where the rest of his mask was. I was still gentle as I took it off, but not as gentle as before. When I finally took the mask off, I could see the apprehension in Peter's eyes, like I could be disappointed that I wasn't actually kissing Spider-Man. But I didn't kiss Spider-Man. I kissed Peter Parker.

The rain stained his hair as I gently cupped his face with my free hand. "Hello, Peter Parker." I held up his mask. "Or should I say Spider-Man?"

Peter took my hand in his and gently pressed his lips to my fingers. "How did you know?" He asked.

"You knew my name," I told him, though it was a half lie. "I could recognize your voice, you ran out on our date with urgency, and," I gestured to around us. Somehow, the Christmas lights hadn't gone out yet. "You brought me back here, without me telling you where I was before."

He scrunched up his face, before smacking himself in the forehead at his slip up. "Idiot!" He muttered.

I laughed, looping my arms around his neck and clasping my hands together. Before I could control myself, I said, "Yeah, but you're _my _idiot."

"_Your_ idiot?" Peter asked, a mischievous tone in his voice. He moved his hands so that they were at the small of my back.

I blushed as red as his Spider-Man outfit. God, I had absolutely _zero_ filter around the guy, didn't I? "No, I just mean that no one can like your mistakes more than I can."

"That doesn't really help you, you know."

"Well, I'm sorry that I get flustered around guys that I like," I told him.

Now it was Peter's turn to blush. "You-you _do_ like me?"

I couldn't help but smile at Peter's uncertainness of himself. I stood on my tiptoes to kiss him again, a long one that left the both of us breathless. I pulled back, and we were both all smiles as we touched our foreheads together. "I do," I smiled.

I honestly think that no one had ever cared for me more than Peter Parker had. The guys that I'd dated back home weren't all that memorable. I had only ever dated two people in my life. The first one was one of my family friends, because our families thought that we would look cute together. So we dated for a year before it got too awkward and we broke it off. The second guy I only dated because all of our friends thought that we would look cute together. We only lasted a month or two.

There'd never actually been a guy who liked me for _me_. Who's ever put me before himself without a second thought. Peter broke my fall when I fell out of a tree and broke his own arm in turn. He accidentally revealed himself as Spider-Man so that he could save me. He remembered all these little mannerisms of myself that even _I_ didn't pay attention to. It was like he knew me better than I knew myself. And he did.

I felt like our little romance spell distracted us from what was actually going on, and the chill in the rainy air brought me back. I pressed myself into Peter more to try and absorb his body heat. He wrapped his arms around me fully, pulling me closer to him as I said, "I think we should get home, I'm freezing," I told him.

"Yeah," He agreed. "I'll get us home really fast."

He moved to press the button on his wrist, but I stopped him before he could. He looked confused, but I just held up his mask. "You're going to suck at the whole 'anonymous' thing if people can see your face."

Peter smiled hugely, and I reciprocated it. He took the mask from my hand, sneaking in a quick kiss before he pulls it back on. "At least _you_ get the concept of the mask."

A few minutes later, we were back at our houses. I didn't want to go through the front door in case Shelia woke up, so I clung onto Peter's back as he crawled up the side of the wall to my window. I carefully slipped back into my room. I turned back to the window, where Peter was still clinging on to the wall.

"Thank you," I told him.

He nodded, before he moved to jump away from the wall.

"Wait!" I called, stopping him. Peter did stop and turned back to face me. I jerked my head towards my room. "Come in."

Peter hesitated before shaking his head. "Oh, I don't think that's a good idea."

"Why not?" I asked him, leaning on my window. "I still have a few things to ask you. And I want to ask you as _Peter Parker._" I stuck out my lower lip, giving him my best puppy eyes that always worked with Ian, no matter how badly he denied it. "Please?"

Peter sighed. "That's not fair. You _know_ I can't resist your puppy eyes."

I smirked as I leaned closer to his masked face. "If you got 'em baby, use 'em."

Peter sighed again before saying, "Give me a second." He dropped to the ground, and dashed into his house.

I took this time to switch out of my soaked clothes into warmer, drier ones, and when I came out of the bathroom, Eddie was sitting on my bed, a box of popcorn in his hands. He was enthusiastically shoving the food into his mouth. "And just when I thought that this couldn't get any better."

I groaned, crossing my arms. "Please don't tell me you were there when Peter and I...well..."

"Kissed?" Eddie finished with a grin. "No, I technically wasn't. But I'm your mentor, I know everything." Then, he broke into a girlish laugh. "But oh, you and Peter kissed! You finally did it!"

"What do you mean, 'we finally did it'?" I asked him. "Where you actually hoping that Peter and I would kiss?"

"Hell yeah! The attraction between you two is so obvious. First off, it's way obvious that Peter likes you-maybe even more. And you eventually learned to like Peter, and maybe even more," He grinned. "Oh, what would your ship name be? Peterline? Padeline?" I could only look on in disbelief as he snapped his fingers. "Maybe your last names! Peckett? Barker? Ah, whatever. We'll figure it out later. Right now, you have a boy at your window."

I gave Eddie a confused look before I turned to my window, and sure enough, there was Peter. Though, he was hanging upside down. It brought a smile to my face, and when I turned to face Eddie, he was already gone. That was good enough for me.

I shook my head with a small laugh as I opened the window for Peter. "Hello," He said, a grin on his face.

"Now you're just showing off," I declared as I stepped aside so that he could slip in. He wasn't in his Spider-Man costume anymore. He was in regular street clothes.

The first thing that Peter did was look all around my room. "What?" I asked, moving to stand next to him. "Something wrong?"

"No," He said. "It's just...the last time that I was properly _in_ here, your room was decorated with the Backstreet Boys posters, and 'N Sync, and that blonde guy who's name started with a J."

"Jesse McCartney?" I guessed, trying not to feel guilty. I didn't need another reminder that I shut Peter out after I became friends with Gwen. I quickly changed the subject. "I have not had the privilege of being in your room yet," I said, sitting down on the floor. I leaned against my bed, and hoped that Peter would take the hint and sit too. He did, and he sat down across from me, leaning on my dresser. "So I have questions."

Peter smiled before nodding. "Go ahead."

"When did you start being able to climb walls, and be quick enough to evade Flash, and break glass backboards?" I asked him, a hint of a smile on my face.

"It really started the day after we were at Oscorp," He started. "Do you remember when I got covered by those spiders?"

I grimaced at the memory. "Unfortunately."

"Well, I got bitten by one of them. And it gave me spider like reflexes. But the webbing I made myself," He explained.

"Okay," I drawled. "Who else knows?"

"Just you."

I bit my lip to keep myself from smiling like too big of an idiot. "Don't I feel special," I giggled. "Why did you become Spider-Man?"

Peter's mood shifted from playful to serious. "I was looking for Uncle Ben's murderer."

And suddenly I didn't feel so playful anymore either. "How were you supposed to find him on your own?"

"The police gave me a sketch of him," Peter explained. "And he said that he also had a star tattoo on his wrist. After I started looking for him...Spidey kinda stayed around."

I nodded my head in understand before I asked my next question. "Why didn't you want to tell me? Why didn't you tell anybody?" I mean, we technically had a falling out, but I was there when Peter got bitten by the spider! Also, I was the dude's guide! You would have thought that he would have felt inclined to tell me.

But I don't think he actually knew about that part.

"You almost fell off of the bridge tonight," He said quietly.

I shook the memory of falling away. I was really going to miss those shoes. They were crappy but they were comfortable. "Yeah, so?"

"You almost fell off because you were trying to help Spider-Man," Peter stressed.

Wasn't that why I was _here_, though? To help Spider-Man?

I shifted myself so that I was sitting beside Peter, so close to him that our knees were touching. I felt a bit good at the fact that rather than shying away from me like he normally would have, he leaned into my touch. "I'm still not seeing your point, Pete."

"Not seeing my point?" He asked, and shifted so that his body was facing me. "You could have died tonight because you were helping Spider-Man. Because you were trying to help me, you could have died."

"Still not seeing the point," I told him. I really wasn't.

I could tell he was frustrated with me at this point. "Mads, if something happened to you, I would literally go out of my freaking mind." His hand went to cup my cheek, my hair spilling over his fingers. "That's why I didn't want to tell you. Why I'm not telling Aunt May. I'm going to keep you two safe if it kills me."

My heart hammered. That was the second sweetest thing he's ever said to me. But he's sort of pissing me off. "I'm a big girl Peter. I can take care of myself. Remember when I punched Flash?"

"Yeah, that was punching Flash, not going up against a lizard mutant," He argued.

"Lizard mutant or not, Spider-Man, or not, it's still _you_, Peter," I retorted. "I will do anything to make sure that you are safe. You don't have to have the weight of the world on your shoulders, you know. Or at least New York."

"Then who will?" He asked, bringing his hand back.

"Oh, you still can. You just don't have to alone," I smiled. "I'll help."

Peter immediately started shaking his head. "Madeline, didn't you _just_ hear what I said?"

"I did, but I'm choosing to ignore it," I told him. I turned so that I was sitting cross legged in front of him. "Like I said, you don't have to carry the world on your shoulders, Peter. If you want to, at least share it with me."

"I can't do that, Maddie."

"Too late," I grinned. "You already told me about Spider-Man. Spider-Man's problems are my problems-" _literally _"-Peter Parker's problems are my problems. You might not be able to take the risk, but I am, Peter. You're still only a teenager. You can't possibly go through this alone." I crossed my arms and stuck my chin out stubbornly. "I won't let you. Besides, with everything that's been going on with Spider-Man with the police and everything, maybe it's best if you lay low for a bit."

"I'm not gonna do that."

"And why not?" I asked him.

"That lizard, Connors-"

"Wait, what?" I interrupted him. "That lizard thing was _Connors_?"

He looked a bit sheepish. "Yeah. I didn't get the chance to tell you. At least I think it's Connors. It looked like him."

"Well then," I said, sitting up a bit straighter. I was going to have to be more careful when I went to work. "Anyways, you were saying?"

"Right. We don't know what Connors is capable of. Those people on the bridge-_you_\- he could have killed them. Every single one. I have to go after him."

"I'm sorry, I seemed to have missed the memo where that suddenly became your job," I said sarcastically. "If he can kill us, he can kill you. You're not indestructible, Peter."

"Maybe it is my job," He said gently, trying not to make me more upset than I already was.

I huffed, realizing that no matter how hard I tried to convince him, this was Peter. This was what he was meant to do. And if this is what he wanted to do, I was going to back him up on it. "Peter, you're an idiot," I said, though it was supposed to be taken as affectionate. Because he _was _an idiot. Just a kind hearted one.

He smiled, brushing back the hair that was sitting on my shoulder. "But I'm _your_ idiot."

He laughed as I gave him an annoyed look, but it was more out of him being a dork. "Nice. Way to make a solid save." That reminded me... "Peter, did you mean all those things that you said about me? Those things before we kissed?"

Peter just stared at me for a few seconds before leaning in and kissing me, slowly. I cherished every single moment until he had to pull away. My eyes closed when he kissed me, but they fluttered open again when he pulled away, and I could see the smile on his face. "Every single one."

I couldn't help the nervous smile that formed on my face. "All right, don't you think that you've made a girl blush enough for one night?" I stood up, gesturing to my window. "We still have school, you know."

"Can't we just ditch tomorrow?" Peter asked, standing up.

I ushered him towards the window. "Are you kidding? No way am I letting my attendance slip. And I'm not about to get you into more trouble." See how good of a guide I was being right now? Pssh, I totally got this whole 'guiding' thing. "Now, out you go."

He slipped out of the window, but he stuck his head back in. "No goodnight kiss?"

I thought about it for a second. "You'll have to wait until the morning."

He pouted. "Seriously?"

I laughed before leaning down and giving him a quick peck. "Now, get out of here, Spider-Man. I have to get some sleep."

"All right, all right," He said, pulling his head back. "Goodnight, Madeline."

"Goodnight, Peter."

* * *

**TBC...**

**So not so much movie stuff this chapter, BUT FLUFFY STUFF! WE GOT MADS AND PETER'S FIRST KISS! AND A BUNCH OF MORE KISSES! BE HAPPY!**

**We're gonna jump right back into movie stuff the next chapter. I just wanted something up because I feel horrible not updating for two weeks and giving you that cliffhanger.**

**Also, did any one notice the little reference I made in this chapter? If you caught it, tell me in a review!**

**REVIEW! FOLLOW! FAVOURITE!**

**REVIEW RESPONSES**

* * *

_**IKhandoZatman:** _Of COURSE there's gonna be a sequel! I could not do the Amazing Spider-Man and not do a sequel. I HAVE GOOD THINGS PLANNED BUT FOR YOU GUYS THAT MEANS BAD STUFF BWAHAHAHHAAHA.

_**WalkingInAWinterWonderlandxx:**_Some teachers just need to calm themselves. I am so ready to finish school, which I do in a couple weeks! (MORE TIME FOR THIS STORY AND IT'S SEQUEL). AND THERE YOU GO MADS AND PETER KISS FOR YOUUUUUU. And as you can see, Eddie Murphy is the Captain of this Ship (I still can't think of a good ship name ha ha)

**_dancethenight-03:_**Awww, that's so sweet! Yeah, Eddie is really one that will give you a push of encouragement if you need. Even if he's too literal sometimes. AND DO I ACTUALLY WRITE PETER THAT GOOD? AND THANK YOU YOU ARE SO SWEET!

**_grapejuice101:_**Thank you!Literally all this chapter was was Mads/Peter moments. AND EDDIE IS THE BOMB I'M SO GLAD I DECIDED TO PUT HIM IN THERE. I wasn't going to originally. And summer is coming up for me, so hopefully I can update more often!

_**KirikaAndo:** _STOP BEING SWEET. I don't generally have certain day for updating, because then I feel extra bad that I build up the anticipation of an update and then you don't get one. So I try to update whenever I can. Sometimes it's hard, because I run other fanfics and sometimes I simply don't have the time in the day, but I'm pretty good when it comes to updates.

**_Katyperrylove36:_**You just deserve a cookie of awesomeness. YOU ARE SO SWEET! I CAN'T BELIEVE IT. ME, AN INSPIRATION TO SOMEONE. Thank you so much for loving my story as much as you do! And here is your update! Never stop being wonderful.

_**Marley**_: I can only dream of people reacting like that whenever I update! It's nice to know that people actually do it. OH AND YOUR WELCOME FOR THE CLIFFHANGER! I HOPE THIS CHAPTER SATISFIED YOU!

**_Meimei555:_ **THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR WONDERFUL REVIEW! I'm not gonna lie when I say that I cried. You're too perfect and sweet! Aww, your reaction is amazing! And I hope you were able to hold out! I HOPE THAT YOU ENJOYED THIS CHAPTER BECAUSE HOT DAMN YOU DESERVED IT.

_**Percyval:**_Thanks for the review! AND NOW THEY ARE TOGETHER! TECHNICALLY. THE STATUS OF THEIR RELATIONSHIP WILL BE DETERMINED LATER LOL. And thanks so much!

**_ Rissa-channn:_**Thanks for agreeing with me! I can only hope that their kiss scene was special enough for you! I want all my readers to have a good experience while reading my chapters because I want them to be a part of the story. It's what I like doing whenever I'm reading anything! I hope you liked this chapter!

**_Guest 1:_**I AM SORRY FOR THE WAIT BUT HERE IS YOUR UPDATE!

_**honeybear8342:**_HERE IS MORE FOR YOU! :D

**_Naturoske:_**Thanks for the review! And I think that they're really cute together too. It's because Peter is so awkward, and Mads finds that adorable, so when she's attracted to someone, then she becomes awkward, and they fit pretty well lol. Here is your update!

**_the most fun:_**Four days late isn't so bad, is it? AND STOP BEING NICE! IS MY STORY THAT GOOD? THAT IF I STOP WRITING YOU MIGHT _DIE_? Well, rest assured, I'm never going to stop writing. AND THANKS MADS LOVES YOU TOO.

_**Isabella95:** _Now that she's established that she's going to be a team with Peter whether he likes it or not, the guiding sessions will begin! And there's your kiss!

_**Rox Malone:** _AND I LOVE YOU RANDOM CITIZEN!

_**Guest 2:** _HERE IS YOUR UPDATE!


	7. Gwen

**Disclaimer: **I do not own The Amazing Spider-Man! I only own my OC, "Madeline Beckett" and any other characters I make up along the way!

**Author's Note: **Okay, so I have tried and failed to photoshop Mads (who is faced by Emma Roberts). If anyone wants to do this FOR me (as in make your very own poster for this story!) PLEASE let me know in a review so I can PM you or in a PM! Please! I AM DESPERATE OKAY.

Also, we are almost at 100 followers, guys. Excuse me, but HOW IN THE WORLD DID THIS HAPPEN? THIS STORY WASN'T SUPPOSED TO GET FOLLOWS. IT WASN'T SUPPOSED TO GET REVIEWS. IT WAS JUST A STUPID IDEA I HAD! I HADN'T EVEN PROPERLY WATCHED THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN WHEN I STARTED WRITING IT! YOU'RE ALL TOO WONDERFUL AND MAKE ME CRY AND WHEN I SAY STOP IT I MEAN KEEP DOING IT SO I CAN CRY MORE.

_*ahem*_

And did _no one_ get the sort of reference last chapter? It was from the first Spider-Man movie with Tobey Maguire, where Mary Jane pulls down (in Mads's case, pulls up) the Spider-Man mask just enough to kiss Peter Parker? No?

*whispers* I thought it was kind of clever.

Also, I am loving the response I've been getting for the Mads and Peter kiss! And yeah, their ship names are kind of weird. I think we should just have a label. I actually have one in mind! "I'm _you're_ idiot"! It's actually something that they're both going to say to each other a lot. It's like Hazel Lancaster and Augustus Waters's "okay".

Anyways!

**Enjoy!**

* * *

"What's got you all smiley?" Gwen asked me the next day as we walked down the halls of Midtown Science.

"Oh, no reason," I replied, unable to keep the smile off of my face. When I woke up this morning, this smile refused to leave. I got changed with a smile on my face, left for school with a smile on my face, and walked the halls with a smile on my face. I was like the McDonald's logo.

Gwen scoffed as we made our way to the exit. School had ended for the day, though I hadn't seen Peter all day. At first it made me feel weird, because I thought that maybe I did something wrong and he regretted last night, but he texted me before first period ended and told me that he was going to Oscorp to get some answers, and that he'd tell me those answers later. "I know you, Maddie. You are smiling for a reason."

"What, I can't just be_ happy_?" I asked as we strolled down the street. Normally, we would have stopped to grab some drinks or something, but we had a test to study for and we didn't want to waste any time.

"I'm not saying that," Gwen said as we stopped at a cross walk. "I'm saying that you haven't been this ridiculously happy since you dated Tobias Fell. And you guys only went out for a few months!"

"Gwen, the sun is shining!" I declared as we started walking across the street. Manhattan was still busy as ever. I don't think I'll ever get used to it. Gwen, however, seemed completely unaffected. "The birds are chirping, there is a sweet smell in the air! I'm happy."

Gwen wrinkles her nose. "I don't know what fantasy world you're living in, because to me, it is partly cloudy, there is no chirping, just the annoying clucks of pigeons, and the only thing that I smell in the air is exhaust fumes."

I looked around me to realize that she was right. I wasn't going to let her think that, though! "Jeez, Gwen, this whole 'negative attitude' thing is not going to get you friends. You need to be more happy go lucky, like me!"

My blonde friend just shook her head at me as we walked up the steps to her apartment complex. We rode the elevator up to her floor, and for the first time, I was in Gwen Stacy's apartment.

Paul would kill me if I told him this.

"Mom, Mads is over!" Gwen called out as we walked into her apartment.

Mrs. Stacy walked out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on a cloth. She smiled widely as she came over to me and wrapped me into a hug. "How are you, sweetie?"

I returned the hug, before pulling back. "Just great, Mrs. Stacy."

"Are you going to stay for dinner tonight?" Mrs. Stacy asked.

"Only if I'm welcome," I responded.

She laughed, a musical sound. "Of course you are. You're always welcome."

"Okay Mom," Gwen urged, looping her arm through mine. "Mads came over so that we could study, not so that she can eat."

"Can't it be both?" I asked as Gwen rolled her eyes at me. She dragged me towards her bedroom as I called out goodbye to Gwen's mom.

Gwen opened the door to her room, and her little brother was at her desk, using her computer. Gwen growled. "Howard, get out!"

Howard quickly shut the browser he was using and got up from her computer chair, running out the door. Gwen shut it behind him, grumbling. "I'm going to kill that kid."

"I don't think that will fly with your parents," I said, collapsing on her bed.

"I don't really care," Gwen laughed, sitting on her desk chair. She pulled out her text book, as I did.

My phone buzzed, and I took it out of my jeans pocket to see who it was. A smile formed on my face when I realized that it was Peter.

**I miss you.-P**

My heart thumped as I replied to him. **Do you?-M**

** Yup. Sorry I wasn't in school today.-P**

** It's okay. Are you home yet?-M**

** Not yet. I have something to do first. I'll tell you about it later. I promise.-P x.**

Was that a kiss?

**I still miss you.-P**

"Who are you texting?"

Gwen's voice brought me out of my thoughts, and I moved to shut my phone off. "No one."

"It must have been someone to make you smile like that," Gwen deduced, and before I knew what was happening, she lunged for my phone.

"Gwen!" I protested as she reached for my phone. "Get off!"

"Who are you texting?!" Gwen shouted. I laid flat on my stomach, and Gwen jumped on top of my back, reaching for the phone. She managed to snatch my phone out of my hand, and kept me pinned down as she unlocked it. I knew I shouldn't have told her the password!

I struggled to get out from under her as she breathed, "You're texting Peter Parker?"

I flipped myself over so that I was laying on my back, and Gwen went sailing off of me. While she was winded, I grabbed my phone out of her hand. "What the hell, Gwen?"

Eagerly, she got up and leaned forward on her elbows. "You're texting _Peter Parker?_"

I huffed, turning my phone off. Remind me to change my password later. "Yeah. So what?"

Gwen's eyes lit up. "Peter is the reason you're so smiley, isn't he?"

"What? No!" I immediately protest, but Gwen can see right through me.

"Yes, he is!" She retorted. "He's the reason that you're so happy!"

I looked back down at my phone, thinking of the messages that Peter just sent me. I couldn't help but slightly smile, and Gwen gasps.

"What?" I asked her.

She grabbed my arm, hard, and squealed. "You're in love with him! You love him!"

My stomach dropped. "What? No I don't!"

"Yes you do!" Gwen insisted. Then she started shouting, "Mads loves Peter! Mads loves Peter!"

"Gwen, what the hell are you doing?!" I half yelled, jumping for her to get her to stop.

She was too fast for me, though. Gwen rolled away from me, and leapt off of her bed. She began singing, "Mads loves Peter! Mads loves Peter!"

"Gwen, stop it!" I insisted, running after her.

She went for her window, opening it before screaming outside. "Madeline Beckett is in love with Peter Parker!"

"Gwen!" I screamed, my face heating up. What if Peter heard? Okay, unlikely that he was _right_ by Gwen's apartment, but still!

She was so distracted because she was yelling at the window, that I went right for her back. I wrapped my arm around her neck, slamming my hand on her mouth. I pulled her away from the window before shutting it, my grip still on Gwen. She kept screaming that I loved Peter through my hand, and she was struggling so hard to get free that the two of us ended up flopping on top of her bed.

The door to her room opened, and who I assumed to be Gwen's father, Captain Stacy, stuck his head in. His eyes widened when he saw Gwen and I on the bed, an entangled mess.

"Do I want to know what is going on?" He asked as Gwen and I separated from each other.

"I don't think so, Captain Stacy," I told him.

"I thought you girls were studying," He said suspiciously.

"Oh we were," Gwen said. "It's a new technique to studying. We hug each other and hope that the information seeps through to each other."

"I think it's gonna be the next big thing," I agreed with my blonde best friend.

"Whatever you say," He said. "Dinner will be ready soon."

"Okay, Dad," Gwen said. "Now get out, we're going to talk about girl stuff. Like nails, and clothes, and hair..."

"I get it. I'm _going_," Captain Stacy said, moving his head away from the door and shutting it behind him.

Gwen and I just looked to each other before bursting into laughter. We eventually had to hold our sides because we were laughing so hard. I had no idea what was so funny about the situation, but we couldn't stop laughing. We eventually got it under control, and Gwen got up to sit in her computer chair again, spinning around it in.

"But seriously," She started. "What's up with you and Peter?"

"There is nothing up with me and Peter," I lied, lying down on my side.

"That is a lie and you know it," Gwen protested, halting her spinning so that she was facing me. "I'm your best friend; does that bond mean _nothing_ to you?"

"Gwen," I started, but she cut me off.

"No, I mean," She fake sniffled. "We've just been friends since we were, I don't know, eleven or twelve. We know everything about each other. We've been to concerts together, midnight book releases. I've told you all of my crushes and you've told me all of yours-up until now." Gwen buried her face in her hand and fake cried. "I can't believe that six years of friendship means nothing to you!"

"_Gwen_," I laughed. "You're being so melodramatic."

Her tone changed in an instant. She brought her head back up before smiling. "Oh, I know. But _seriously_," She got off of the computer chair and flopped on the bed next to me, forcing me to move over to make room for her. "Tell me!"

I grumbled. "Fine! I'll tell you." Gwen would have kept prying to find out. And, well, she _was_ my best friend. This was the kind of thing you would talk about with a best friend.

She squealed. "Yay! Spill!"

I sighed, before sitting up. I fully faced Gwen, crossing my legs. "Okay. So Peter and I...may have kissed last night."

She gasped, grabbing on to my arm. "Oh my God!"

"Would you loosen your death grip?" I demanded, trying to pry her iron hold on my arm.

"No!" Gwen laughed, squeezing my arm tighter. "Tell me about it! When did you and Peter start getting close again? When did you start loving him?"

"One question at a time, Gwen!" I insisted. "I'm not a robot, you know."

"Fine," She said with an eye roll. "When did you and Peter start getting close again?"

I blew my bangs out of my face, trying to remember. I think the first time I actually interacted with Peter was when he saved me from getting hit by the car. But I think the first time I started getting what I liked to call "the fuzzies" for Peter was... "I think it was Oscorp. I've actually talked with him a few times before, and he was always really nervous whenever he talked to me. I don't know...I guess I found it really cute." I smiled to myself, remembering how flustered he got when I asked him what he was doing at Oscorp that day. It was one of the cutest things I'd ever seen Peter do. "And then...I don't know. I guess it just started from there."

"Aww, that's so cute!" Gwen gushed. I think she really meant it. "Okay, when did you start loving him?"

"Gwen!" I flushed hotly. I don't love Peter! Yeah sure, I really liked him and I think he was cute and he was an idiot, but I don't know if I _loved_ him.

"What? It's a valid question!"

"I don't...I don't _know_, okay?"

"What do you mean you don't know?" She asked, crossing her arms.

"I mean that I don't know if I love him," I clarified. "Yeah, I think he's cute and sweet and funny, and when he's nervous he does the cutest thing where he looks anywhere but your eyes. And when he gets flustered, it's so adorable because he starts saying the most awkward stuff, but sometimes he says the sweetest stuff." With each word, my heart swelled more and more with the thought of the boy that I had kissed less than 24 hours ago.

Gwen gave me a look. "Madeline?"

"What?"

"You're falling for him," She said, pushing my shoulder. "You might not be in _love_ love with him yet, but you're on your way there. I mean, did you just hear the way you were talking about him?"

"Well, yeah, but I was only saying those things because-"

"Because those are the things that you love about him," Gwen finished for me. "Also, I'm not blind. I see the way he looks at you. He's _crazy_ about you, Mads."

I looked down at my hands and fiddled with them. "I mean, I know that he likes me, but-"

Gwen laughed. "_Likes_ you? Mads, that boy is seriously in love with you. He's always been in love with you. You just haven't seen it."

My entire body went red at Gwen's words. I mean, I knew that Peter liked me a lot-I'd seen it so many times. But...but _love_? He was determined to keep me safe no matter what...but that was out of care, not love, right?

I was saved by Mrs. Stacy calling Gwen and I in for dinner. I made a quick stop to the washroom to try and cool myself down by splashing water on my face and neck, but it didn't really work. So I admitted defeat and went over to the dining room in the Stacy house.

Gwen left the spot next to her empty, so I went right over and sat next to her. Howard passed me the plate of branzino, and I helped myself. We dug right in. It was silent for a bit, Mrs. Stacy asking Gwen and I how school was, Gwen asking her father how work was. And then, Gwen decided to bring up, "Mads has a boyfriend."

If I could tear her hair out, I would.

"Do you?" Mrs. Stacy asked, putting her fork on her plate and reaching for her glass of wine.

I turned my head and gave Gwen a death glare only she could see, but she smiled innocently at me. I turned back to Mrs. Stacy, fighting the blush on my face. "I don't know if we're actually _dating_ yet, Mrs. Stacy."

"They did kiss last night," Gwen threw in. "So that should have an implication as to their relationship status."

"_Gwen_," I hissed, my face hot.

"Who's the boy?" Captain Stacy asked, all serious.

I gulped as I took a sip of water. "Um, Peter Parker."

"Peter Parker?" Captain Stacy repeated. "Oh, that boy is strange."

"I think strange is something that Maddie is drawn to," Gwen said, and I smacked her on the arm.

"Explains why I'm friends with _you_," I said, before turning back to her father. "Why do you think Peter is strange?"

"He was at the station earlier today-when he should have been in school, may I add-he was talking about how that weird lizard thing is actually Doctor Connors," He explained.

My heart skipped a beat as I said, "And you don't think he's right?"

"I think that lizard is Doctor Connors just as much as I think that Spider-Man is trying to help New York," Captain Stacy dismissed, taking a drink from his glass.

"Wait, you don't think that Spider-Man is helping people?" I blurted before I could control myself.

"No, I think he is just making things worse for us," He said. "It's just making a bigger mess."

"With all due respect, sir, Spider-Man has been _helping_ people," I tried to reason. "He's caught muggers and assaulters and robbers. Isn't that _good_?"

"If he was really trying to help, he'd stop making such a big fuss with the public and let the police officers do their jobs," Captain Stacy dismissed.

"I'm sorry, sir, but I think you're wrong," I couldn't help but say. God, I needed to start watching my mouth! I was going to land myself into hot water! Even more than I actually was right now.

"Mads," Gwen gently hissed under her breath. "Don't."

"Why do you think I'm wrong, Madeline?" Captain Stacy asked.

"George," Mrs. Stacy quietly said, but he ignored her.

"No, no," He said to his wife. "Enlighten me, Madeline."

"Well, the night the lizard attacked the people on the bridge, Spider-Man saved a little boy from falling into the water," I said.

"How do you know that?" Gwen asked.

"Because I was there," I answered. "And you know what? Spider-Man saved me, too."

"How?" Captain Stacy asked.

"I was leaning on a piece of the broken bridge, and it snapped," I started, remembering the chilling experience. "I fell, and I would have fell into the water if it weren't for Spider-Man's webs. He _saved me_, Captain Stacy," I said. "If it weren't for Spider-Man, I'd be dead right now. So I don't know about you, but I don't think that the police officers could have caught me like that. That, 'big fuss' that he made with the public saved my life, Captain Stacy. I will forever be grateful to Spider-Man for that."

A small awkward silence started looming in, and I nearly cried tears of relief when my phone rang. I took it out of my pocket and saw that it was Shelia. "It's my mom," I said, looking up at Gwen's parents. "I have to take this."

Mrs. Stacy nodded, but the Captain didn't look at me, probably digesting this piece of information I'd given him. I slowly got out of my chair before walking back into Gwen's room to take the call.

I answered, bringing the phone up to my ear. "Hello?"

"Hey, Mads. Where are you?" Shelia asked.

"I'm just at Gwen's house. I thought I told you I was going over to her house after school," I said.

"Oh dear, you might have," Shelia said. "I've been really busy today. Okay, then."

"Do you want me to come home?" I asked. Oh God, please say yes! I don't want to go back to the awkwardness that is the Stacy dining room.

"No, no," She said, crushing my soul. "You just have fun with Gwen. I'll see you when you get home."

"See you," I said, and hung up. Now what?

"You could always lie," Eddie's voice came from beside me.

I turned my head in his direction. "Lie?"

He nodded. "Yeah. Just tell Gwen's parents that your mom wants you home. It doesn't seem suspicious."

"That's true," I said, pocketing my phone. I grabbed my backpack, slinging it on my back. "Okay, get out of here. I'll see you later."

He dematerialized, and I walked out of Gwen's room. I walked back to the dining room, and they all turned to see me standing the doorway with my backpack. "My mom wants me to come home," I swiftly lied. "Sorry about leaving right in the middle."

"Don't be ridiculous, sweetie," Mrs. Stacy said, standing up. She came over to me and gave me a hug. "Come back any time, okay?"

I nodded as I watched Gwen get out of her chair. "I'll walk you out."

I pulled away from Mrs. Stacy, giving Gwen's brothers and Captain Stacy a quick goodbye before turning and going over to the front door. Gwen had to do something quickly first, so I waited a couple minutes. She walked over to the front door maybe ten minutes later. "Sorry about that," She smiled as I opened the door.

"No worries," I said, walking out. Gwen shut the door behind us, and we walked over to the elevator.

Okay, one of us had to say something before I exploded. "Sorry about talking like that with your dad," I blurted. "I just didn't like the way he was talking about Spider-Man, especially after he's saved my life."

"Nah, don't worry about it," Gwen said with a wave of her hand. We got into the elevator, and she pressed the lobby button. "It was kind of weird, though. My dad loves you just as much as he loves my brothers and I. In fact, sometimes I think that he loves you more than us. It was weird watching you guys fight. You always get along."

"Well, we were bound to fight at some point," I pointed out as the elevator doors open. When we got to the doors of the lobby, I saw a yellow taxi sitting out front. I turned to Gwen, who was purposefully avoiding my gaze. "Gwen?"

She groaned. "Look, I was sorry and embarrassed about my dad, and apparently my mom was too, because she made me call you a cab to say sorry. Also, it's pretty late; no way were we going to let you walk home."

"I could have taken the bus," I pointed out.

"Ew, no. Don't you know there are weirdos on the bus?" Gwen dismissed.

That was true. I'd only ever ridden the bus once in my life, and I sat next to a person who basically made demon noises.

Needless to say I never took the bus again.

"You still didn't have to call me a cab," I insisted. I felt bad that Gwen was spending her money on me. As I'd learned, cabs are freaking _expensive _in New York. It wasn't exaggerated in movies and stuff.

She waved it away. "It's fine, really, Mads. Just go home and get some sleep, okay?"

"That reminds me," I said. "We didn't _actually_ get any studying done."

Gwen laughed. "Yeah, we didn't did we? Whatever, we can fail the test. It won't make much of a difference."

I laughed too. "Okay, I have to go. The meter is running and I don't want to waste more of your money. See you tomorrow, Gwen!" I waved at her.

"Bye, Mads!" She waved back as I left the lobby.

* * *

When the taxi driver pulled up to my house, I tried paying him for the ride. It turns out, Mrs. Stacy had already paid for the cab. The next time I saw her, she was getting the biggest hug from me.

I got of the cab before going up to my house. I walked into the house, and Shelia was standing in the kitchen when I come in. She poked her head around the corner. "Back so soon?"

"Yeah, I started feeling sick," I lied. "I didn't want to stay in cause I threw up."

"Oh. Well, are you hungry?" She asked.

I shook my head. "Nah, I ate a bit before I came home. I think I'm just going to go up to my room for the night."

"All right," Shelia said. "If you need anything, I'm here."

"I know," I called behind me as I made my way up the stairs. I walked into my room, and was jolted by what I saw.

And it wasn't Eddie this time.

Peter Parker was trying to climb through my window.

* * *

**TBC...**

**So I just wanted a chapter with Gwen and Mads to try and further establish their friendship, which is what I'm going to start doing more. And let's face it: Mads and Gwen are the cutest friends!**

**Also, Madeline has a Tumblr! YUP! You heard it here first. It's .com. So you can ask her questions, talk with her, and stuff. It's a role play that I'm running, and I've posted the information in her description box. So go follow her on there for a better insight of Madeline's mind! (What's cool about it is that Eddie will answer questions too, if you leave them for him!)**

**I also have a new Twitter JUST for my Fanfiction updates. So I'll be talking about what updates I'm going to do next, any special announcements, stuff like that. So for exclusive stuff like that, follow me! I'm DreamonAlina!**

**REVIEW RESPONSES**

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_**Katyperrylover36: **_Your reviews always make me smile! AND I FEEL SO BAD ABOUT YOUR ENTHUSIASM FOR THE SEQUEL BUT I'M ALSO REALLY HAPPY ABOUT IT YOU FEEL? Not so much fluffy stuff in this one, but we got Mads and Gwen! And Mads defending Peter! Or, Spider-Man. I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

_**grapejuice101: **_I KNOW THE KISSED!1 And yeah, she told him she knows! It's gonna be so much fun now that she actually _knows_! I hope you love this chapter!

_**KirikaAndo:**_ YOU'RE WELCOME FOR PETER AND MADS LOL

_**IKhandoZatman: **_You really shouldn't be.

_**Shannyrox101: **_It does work LOL. Maybe we should just go with my idea at the beginning Author's Note.

_**WalkingInAWinterWonderlandXX: **_I always love your reviews! And seriously they need a good ship name LOL. And I KNOW! I was so excited but really nervous that I wasn't going to get their kiss right, but I think that I did really great! AND HELL YEAH MADS INITIATED IT! I mean, _come on_! After all that sweet stuff Peter said to her? I'm surprised she didn't jump his bones! AND I'M HAPPY THAT YOU'RE HAPPY! We get more cutesy Mads and Peter stuff next chapter!

_**Marley: **_Eddie is not going anywhere, I promise you that! I think he's a really good character and one of the best I've written LOL. AND THEIR KISS! I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

_**Guest: **_Here is your update! :D

_**Rissa-channn: **_Aww, thank you! I think they're pretty cute, in my opinion. AND YOU THINK YOU HAD FEELS READING THIS CHAPTER? IMAGINE POOR LITTLE ME WRITING THIS! I HAD TO STOP A FEW TIMES BECAUSE OF HOW GIDDY I WAS GETTING!

_**Sara: **_Thanks so much! And are you kidding? Peter's character in the movie was my favourite thing _about_ the movie! And his awkwardness is Mads's favourite thing about him, so there's another point! And here's an update for ya!

_**Reito10: **_Do you have any idea how much that makes me want to cry? You're just the sweetest thing ever! I hope you love this chapter!

_**WriteToEscapeReality1309: **_Ah, I was _waiting_ for you to show up on this story XD I'm just kidding LOL. And people are so excited for the sequel when this story isn't even done yet! That makes me literally the happiest person in the world! AND I HAD SO MANY FEELS WRITING THEIR KISSING SCENE! I wanted it to be perfect, because you know me, I haven't written a relationship like Mads and Peter's before. And I think it's really fun! I hope you liked this chapter!

_**Narutoske: **_I think they're really cute too! And you're absolutely dead on. In the upcoming chapters, we get to see more of how Mads truly feels for Peter (and we all know how Peter feels for Mads) and how that affects her wanting to go home. She's accepted the fact that if she wants to go home, she has to help Peter. And she's afraid of falling in love with him in the process. Okay, I've said too much LOL.

And exactly _how_ do you know that she doesn't die in the sequel? I mean, I am capable of very terrible things. Okay, I'm not saying anything more LOL.

_**Bronzelove: **_I know, right? I hope you liked this chapter!

_**Kam74: **_Okay, I saved your review for last, because woman, DO YOU REALIZE HOW BADLY YOU MADE ME CRY? I was at school when I was reading it and my friends actually had to ask if I was okay! THE AMOUNT OF FEELS THAT YOU GIVE ME COULD GIVE A THOUSAND MEN IN RUSSIA CANCER IN HIS FEELS. And thank you, grapejuice101! She's really good when it comes to recommending fics, as you can see XD

But seriously, you made me CRY! Whenever I need inspiration or just a smile, I always go and read what you wrote, because it always cheers me up, no matter what. AND TRUST ME, PETER AND MADELINE ARE JUST GETTING STARTED! YOU ARE WONDERFUL AND I REALLY LOVE YOU!

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**REVIEW! FOLLOW! FAVOURITE! THANKS! STAY TUNED!**


	8. Injured

**Disclaimer: **I do not own The Amazing Spider-Man! I only own my OC, "Madeline Beckett" and any other characters I make up along the way!

**Author's Note: **This chapter isn't particularly long, but we get Mads and Peter fluff, so yay for that!

PS MANY MANY MANY THANKS TO THE LOVELY KATYPERRYLOVER36 FOR THE AMAZING POSTER! THANKS SO MUCH, AND THIS CHAPTER IS DEDICATED TO YOU! I HOPE YOU LOVE IT!

**Enjoy!**

* * *

I rolled my eyes slightly at the sight of Peter trying to crawl through my window. Was he trying to be romantic? It wasn't really working. "You know if you want to be romantic, bring me flowers and candy, not climb through my window," I said as I went over to the window to help him in, since he was clearly struggling with it.

And that was when I noticed that he was in his Spider-Man suit. And his face was really dirty and had scratches and red marks and _bruises._

"Peter," I breathed, opening the window all the way. Peter practically collapsed in my arms, and I gently dragged him inside. Once he was inside and I could fully assess him, I gasped really loud at the three extremely large gashes crossing on his chest, the front of his suit soaked in his own blood.

"What happened?" I asked, panic bubbling in my chest. "What happened?"

"It's okay. You should see the other guy," He tried to joke, but it obviously looked like he was in pain. I kept my arms firmly around him as I helped him over to a chair I had in my room, ignoring the blood that stained my hands. "The other guy, being a large mutant lizard."

"You're not being funny," I said worriedly, supporting his back as I eased him down. "What the hell happened?"

Peter opened his mouth to answer, but he cut himself off at the sound of my door opening.

Faster than a speeding bullet, I dashed over to my door and grabbed it before it could be open fully. I peeked my head out through the space that I allowed and saw my Mom. "What is it?"

"Are you okay?" Shelia asked. "Are you talking to someone?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I was actually just talking to Gwen on the phone, I left my textbook at her house. I wanted to call her and ask her to bring it to school for me tomorrow."

"Is that it?" She asked.

I rolled my eyes, tapping my foot impatiently. "Yes, yes. Can I go? I have some stuff to do."

Shelia didn't look too sure, but I was able to shut the door and lock it. I ran back over to Peter, who was trying not to cry out in pain. I dropped down next to him. I stared at his chest, and despair filled my stomach at the sight of the blood. Thankfully, most of it was already dried. "Okay, we have to clean this up. We have to-we have to clean..." I trailed off, standing up to find a first aid kit.

Peter grabbed my hand before I had a chance to leave. "Mads," He breathed.

I fell back down next to him. "What is it? What's wrong? What hurts? I mean, apart from the obvious. Do you feel dizzy? Nauseous? Whatever you do, don't go into the light!"

Peter managed a laugh, but winced slightly at the pain from it. "I just wanted to say thanks."

I choked out a laugh in disbelief. I shook my head at the stupid boy, before leaning in and giving him a quick kiss. It sort of tasted like sweat, which was kind of gross, and if it was anybody but Peter, I would have made a comment. Instead, I said, "I'll be right back."

I discreetly opened my door before rushing down the hall into the bathroom. That was where people keep first aid kits, right? That was where my family kept it in our house. But I checked every cabinet and there was nothing there.

"Mom?" I called down the stairs. I stayed at the top so that she wouldn't see the blood on my hands.

Shelia appeared at the bottom. "Yeah, honey?"

"Where's the first aid kit?" I asked, clasping my hands and putting them behind my back.

"Uh, hang on! I'll bring it up to you!" She said, disappearing into the living room. I darted back to my bedroom, going back inside and poking my head out the door.

Shelia came up the stairs, the kit in her hand. "What's wrong? Are you hurt?"

"Uhhh..." I stammered. "Yeah. I have a cut on my leg."

"Oh honey, what happened?"

"I don't know," I said. "I might have done it on the way home, but all I know is that there is blood dripping down the back of my leg and I want to fix that."

"Oh my goodness! Do you need help?" She asked inching her way towards my room.

I closed the door as much as I could. "No, no! I can take care of myself."

"Are you sure?" She asked uncertainly.

"Yes! Honestly, Mom, I'm seventeen years old. I think can take care of my own boo boos," I said sarcastically.

"Really? Because just last week I can recall _someone _accidentally cutting her hand while she was dicing vegetables and then cried for ten minutes because, and I quote, 'Her finger had a heart beat'," Shelia said, crossing her arms. "So excuse me if I'm a little skeptical."

"Well that's childish," I dismissed, blushing hotly at the thought of Peter listening in on our conversation. And it's true, I _did_ do that. But only because my own blood freaked me out! Other people's I could handle. My own? Not gonna happen. "And impratical," I said as I quickly grabbed the kit out of her hand. "Night, Mom!"

I turned my head to face Peter, trying to keep my blush under control. Despite the pain he was in, the jerk was grinning at me. "You cried for ten minutes?"

I rolled my eyes, my face flushing hotter. "Oh, shut up. Who's the one with the first aid kit?"

"Right, right. I'm sorry."

I moved Peter to the floor so I could see his wounds better, and I had to fight against my blush as I carefully took his shirt off to properly get to his wounds.

If my brothers ever found out that I had a shirtless boy in my room, they'd _so_ beat him up, Peter Parker or not.

So for the next half hour or so, I cleaned Peter's wounds. I winced every time that he did, and I wanted to cry at the sound of his groans whenever I touched him. I didn't feel _too_ bad, though. I'm actually a bit pissed off.

As I patched him up, Peter explained to me that he went after Dr. Connors, who, as it turns out, _was_ the creature from the bridge. And in the process, he injured Peter. And why I was pissed? Well, I had _told_ him that I was here for him, and then he blatantly ignores it!

"Mads?" He said gently.

I refused to look up at him. It took him a while, but his gaze firmly locked on me was enough to make me look up from his chest. "What?"

"You're mad at me."

"Gee, what gave you that idea?"

"Mads," He gave me a look. "What's wrong?"

I stared down at the bloodstained cloth in my hand. "You didn't tell me that you were going after Connors."

"But I told you that I was going to get answers," He replied.

I snapped my head back up at him. "Peter, I don't think you understand what you're getting yourself into. Look at you!" I let my hands gently trace the lining of his gash. "You're laying down on my floor all...injured."

Peter shrugged. "I don't see your point."

I rolled my eyes. "I was _getting_ to my point. Anyway, my point is, you didn't tell me that you were going _after_ after Connors. Answers and stuff I understand, but intentionally going after him, knowing what he's capable of?" I shook my head. "Peter, he destroyed a bridge. He almost _killed_ people. He could have killed you today."

"So are you saying that I'm not strong enough to take him on?" Peter asked, a little offended.

I shook my head quickly, grasping the sides of his face with both of my hands. "No, that's not what I'm saying at all. What I'm saying is that you're only human. With a few traits of a spider," I added the last part. "You can get hurt. You can die. It's not fair to you if you're sacrificing yourself for a city that's trying to hunt you down."

Peter reached up and put his hands on top of mine. "But I have to, Madeline."

"Why?" I asked, my throat tightening up. "Why are you sacrificing so much for them?"

"Because I created Connors," Peter revealed.

"What? What are you talking about?" I asked him. Last time I checked, Peter wasn't capable of carrying children.

"I gave him the equation," He went on, his eyes glistening with tears. "I made all of this possible. It's something my father had been working on. Secretly, and now I realize why he kept it a secret. This is my responsibility." He reached up brushing my hair back over my shoulder, then cupped the back of my neck. "I have to fix this."

I got that. I really did. Peter saw this as his responsibility, and I guess in a way, it was. But no way was he doing this by himself. "I'm not letting you fix this alone."

"Mads, we've been over this..." Peter started, but I cut him off.

"Yeah, we have been," I said. "And I've told you that I am here for you, and that I'm going to help you."

"Madeline, I don't want to see you get hurt," Peter tried saying.

"What, you think that I want to see _you_ get hurt?" I asked, gesturing to his chest. He was silent for a moment, so I took that as an opportunity to keep talking. "Listen, Peter. I was thinking earlier today...about you."

"Really?" He asked, his eyebrows shooting up.

I nodded. "All I could think about was how much I cared about you. How much you meant to me. And if you get hurt-and you _did_-I will literally go crazy. Nothing matters more to me than you being safe. And honestly, if this is going to be your life, then it's going to be mine, too." I put up a hand, stopping his protests. "Spider-Man and Peter Parker's problems are my problems, remember? I'm not letting you go through this alone."

Peter looked like he was going to protest again, but instead, he leaned in towards my face. I leaned into him too, but he was being a freaking _tease_, and moved his face away from mine. I pouted a bit, and he laughed before leaning in and pressing his lips against my own.

My hands went to cup his cheeks, and he did the same thing. My mouth was moving with his, and I was so caught up in the kiss that I forgot I was angry with him. I pulled back slightly, though once I pulled away, Peter went and planted a trail of kisses down my neck and to my shoulder.

I tried not to squeal in delight as I said, "You're not getting off that easily, Spidey. I'm still mad at you."

His lips went to my ear. "Maybe I can make you forget that you're mad at me," He whispered, before he started kissing my hair.

His words sent shivers down my spine as I said, "Not that easily. Whenever you're doing Spider-Man stuff, I want to come with you. And if I can't come with, I want to at least know that you're doing your Spider-Man things so I'm not stressing about it."

Peter pulled back, resting his forehead against my own as he said, "All right, fine. If it'll make you happy."

I gave him a sweet peck. "It would make me very happy, thank you very much."

Peter started kissing my neck again as I recalled what happened earlier today at Gwen's house. "Do you know that you're a strange boy, at least according to Captain Stacy?"

"What?" Peter mumbled. "When did he say that?"

My hand travelled up from Peter's chest to the back of his neck, playing with his hair. "Tonight, when I was over at Gwen's house. He called you a strange boy. And you _are_ a strange boy. You landed me in some hot water with Gwen's father."

"How?" He questioned, moving his head so that he was looking at me.

I shyly looked down at my lap. "Well, Captain Stacy was talking about how Spider-Man wasn't doing any good, so I kind of...yelled at him."

Peter choked out a laugh, putting his hands on either side of my face and tilting my head up so that I was looking at him. "You yelled at your best friend's father?"

I laughed too. "Well, I'm sorry if I felt the need to stand up for my boyfriend."

As soon as the word "boyfriend" escaped my lips, I winced. Peter and I hadn't even discussed labels. I guessed part of what I wanted to ask him was what I was to him. I guess this was a good way to bring it up.

Peter paused, tilting his head to the side with a grin on his face. "Your boyfriend?"

I moved my hand from his neck so that I could clasp both my hands together, putting them in my lap before studying the flower print on my shirt. "I don't know...is that the right word? I don't think we're friends, friends don't really kiss their friends, do they? But are we close enough to have a label that isn't friends? Do you even _want _a label? Because-"

I was cut off by Peter kissing me, long and passionately. When he pulled away, I was all smiles as he leaned his forehead on mine again. "No, I love that," He grinned, before kissing my temples. "Your boyfriend. I'm your boyfriend."

I smiled before kissing his cheeks. "And I'm your girlfriend."

"But we're each other's idiots," Peter pointed out.

I couldn't help but laugh. Like, really hard. So hard in fact that I had to lean my head on Peter's chest. Then I brought my head back, though he didn't seem to mind. After I was finished with my giggles, Peter leaned back in and kissed me again, with the same passion as before, but he somehow made them light, quick kisses.

I gripped his face as I attempted to deepen our kiss. Things were getting slightly heated, and I accidentally (don't ask how, I don't even know) fell on top of Peter's chest as I leaned forward.

We both just fell into laughter again, me burying my face into the crook of Peter's neck. We just laid there for a bit, before I looked back up at him.

His face was a bit cleaner, now that I had fixed him up. And his lips were a little red, but still perfectly kissable.

So I lifted myself up slightly, and began kissing Peter Parker again. This time, it was more playful. That's what we were. Two young, happy, playful teenagers.

I knew I'd have to take this thing seriously one day.

_But_, I thought to myself as Peter and I kissed. _Today is not going to be that day._

* * *

**TBC...**

**WHO ELSE IS SO HAPPY ABOUT MADS AND PETER?**

**AHHHHH I CAN'T EVEN WITH THEM.**

**Again, sorry this is a short chapter, I just don't have the time to add anything else to it right now.**

**And I have exams next week, so expect the next update to be next Saturday. Sorry about that!**

**I can't reply to your comments this chapter either (I AM SUCH A MESS I KNOW) but I'll definitely do it next chapter!**

**REVIEW! FOLLOW! FAVOURITE! THANKS! STAY TUNED!**


	9. School's Out-For Now

**Disclaimer: **I do not own The Amazing Spider-Man! I only own my OC, "Madeline Beckett" and any other characters I make up along the way!

**Author's Note: **I am so SORRY for being gone so long! I had to study for exams, stress for exams, DO my exams...and then I got writer's block. I literally have no idea where it came from, but it stuck with me a good long while. I don't know how well this chapter is going to be, but let's hope you think it's good!

**Enjoy!**

* * *

I had a skip in my step as I walked to school the next day. I took my sweet time getting ready, putting on a white blouse, a black pullover sweater, a black skirt, white boots, and a headband to top it all off. All in all, I felt really cute today. And if I felt cute, then I _looked _cute.

Peter had told me that he had to be at school early, so it was just me walking.

That is, until Eddie showed up.

I had my headphones in my ears as I was walking, so I almost didn't notice him at first. But then I noticed him when he obviously sighed.

I rolled my eyes at him as the light turned red, signalling to pedestrians to start walking. _"What's wrong?"_ I asked in my head.

"Oh, nothing," He mused. "You've been doing so well with Peter that I haven't been able to see you much. I just wanted to see how you were doing."

I smiled, which must have looked weird to the people around me. _"Thank you for being so kind. I'm doing fine. I'm getting Peter to open up to me about being Spider-Man. That's good, right?"_

"One step closer to home," Eddie agreed.

I literally stopped in my tracks when the realization of what he said hit me. _"Home?" _I asked, starting to walk again.

He nodded. "Yeah, home. As soon as you're good here, you're gone."

"Gone," I said out loud. What if I don't want to be gone?

I turned my head to ask Eddie this, but he was already gone. The bell for classes went, so I had to dash inside the school so I wasn't too late for my first period class.

_Home_, I thought as I tapped my foot to the rhythm of the clock. _Home_.

The bell finally rang, and I beelined for the bathroom. Luckily, there was nobody in there. I did my business, but it was when I was washing my hands, looking into the mirror did my mind go back to home.

I hadn't even thought of home lately. Okay, that was a lie, I thought of home when I was looking for the first aid kit. But I mean like, I hadn't thought of going home in so long. Did that mean I didn't want to go home?

I didn't have much time to dwell on it anymore, because I heard a sudden crash from one of the stalls. I turned my head towards it. I thought that I was alone in here.

"Are you okay?" I asked, walking towards the stall. The ground underneath started rumbling, and I felt worry starting to grow in the pit of my stomach. Warily, I opened the door, and gasped when I saw the toilet sink into the ground, the tiles surrounding it crashing into the ground.

I slowly backed away from the stall. My head was screaming at me to run, but the signals weren't making it to my muscles. I just froze in place.

Which was really bad, because something was coming up. I didn't know what, and I didn't want to, but when you were basically an icicle there was nothing you could do.

My jaw and stomach dropped when I saw a rather large, scaly, _clawed_ hand erupted from the hole, sinking its claws into the ground. Unfortunately, I just stood still as the lizard that has been terrorizing New York City climbed its way out of the ground.

"Oh my God," I whispered. I managed to get a good look at him while he didn't see me, and Peter was right. I could just make out Doctor Connors's facial features.

Unfortunately, my shell shocked body was finally noticed by Connors as he knocked the rest of the stalls down. "Oh...man. Ni-nice lizard?" I tried.

Connors just roared and reared his arm back to claw at me. Finally, my body reacted and I screamed, lunging for the side that the door was on.

Doctor Connors barely missed me, his hand busting up three sinks. Water began filling up the room as he turned to face me again. "Don't, Doctor Connors!"

He was clearly far beyond reasoning as he roared again, this time raising both his arms to attack.

I wasted no time in screaming again, not taking my eyes off of his hands for a second as I managed to open up the door and dash out. Just as I stepped out, Connors busted after me, knocking the wall surrounding the door down.

I fell to the ground, smashing my elbows on some of the ruin. I got a few scratches, and I scrambled to get up as the whole hallway realized what was going on and started running in the opposite direction.

I was almost trampled like Mufasa when I felt a strong grip on my arm, and I looked up to see Gwen lifting me off of the ground. "Are you okay? What happened?"

"I thought all the jokes about Hermione getting attacked because she went to the washroom alone were funny," I froze when I heard another one of Connors's growls. "Not so much anymore."

Gwen laced her fingers with mine. "Come on, we gotta get out of here!"

"But what about Peter?" I asked. If Connors' was here, no doubt he was going after Peter. He told me last night that he found Connors' lair and that he and Connors got into a fight-that's why he was all injured when he came to see me.

"We can find him later," Gwen said as he squeezed past people. "Right now, we have to take care of ourselves."

"Gwen that lizard is Doctor Connors," I blurted. It was an accident, I swear!

"What?" She asked, spinning around to face me.

We both ignored the screams of the teenagers around us as I said, "Connors was very serious about the cross species genetics. He perfected this equation and that's how he ended up as the lizard."

"Maddie, that's crazy talk!" Gwen exclaimed over the police and ambulance sirens that had started to blare.

"I wish it was, Gwen," I admitted. "But I'm not kidding."

"Mads, we can talk about this later, right now, we gotta book it!" Gwen argued.

"I have to find Peter!" I told her.

"Mads-"

"Gwen, I'm not leaving here without him," I interrupted. "Have you seen him?"

Hesitantly, Gwen pointed to the hallway that she had last seen my boyfriend, and I gave her one last hug before we both dashed in opposite directions.

My legs and lungs burned as I finally caught sight of Peter. Unfortunately, he was being thrown into a classroom by Doctor Connors.

"Peter, no!" I screamed, running after them. I passed the emergency fire equipment and paused. Without hesitating, I smashed my elbow through the glass, shattering it. Enough of it broke so that I was able to reach in and grab the fire axe that was inside. It was fairly heavy, but I was able to carry it in my hands. Once it was in my grip, I went after them again.

I screamed as Connors came crashing out of the room, Peter (in his Spider-Man suit) on his back. He had this webs around Connors as if he was trying to lead a horse. I ducked behind some lockers so that they couldn't see me and winced every time I heard Peter groan. He still hadn't recovered from his wounds from the other night!

They battled for a bit, Peter trying to talk Connors out of it all the while. After I saw Connors fling Peter into a hallway was the moment I decided to strike. I ran as quickly and as quietly as my feet could take me, and when I finally got to the two of them, Connors had Peter's throat in his hands, slamming him against the window.

I decided to charge at him so that I wouldn't lose my nerve. And it worked! When I got to Connors, I wasted no time in burying the axe into his side. And stabbing a person feels really weird, I recommend you don't do it unless completely necessary.

Connors roared in anger. As he flexed, I pulled the axe back out in case I needed it again. I made a disgusted sound at the green blood that was left behind, but my focus was quickly taken away from it as Connors fixated his attention on me.

Well, his attention was away from Peter, and that was what I wanted, wasn't it?

I raised the axe in defence as Connors (well it _sounded_ like him) said, "Madeline." He lifted his arm to attack and I tensed my arm muscles, ready to swing.

But Connors's blow never came, because Peter used his webbing to pull Connors's arm away from me. He then took the opportunity that I had created in distracting (and injuring) Connors by wrapping him all in the webs. And by all, I mean that Peter crawled all around the guy, getting the web on him. After Connors was incapacitated, Peter shot out webs to the walls to secure Connors in place.

He shot a web out towards me, it landing on the in the axe. Peter pulled me towards him, before grabbing the axe and throwing it out the window, smashing the window. He gathered me into his arms before saying, "I'm gonna throw you out the window now."

"What?" I said incredulously.

Before I could even think, Peter had tossed me out of the open window. I screamed as I fell, bracing myself for the impact with the ground.

I didn't hit the ground, though, as I felt the stickiness of Peter's webbing make contact with my stomach, stopping me from breaking my back. That would have been the worst way to die.

I swung for a bit, regaining my breath. He did not just do that! I told him that I wanted to help him with being Spider-Man, and then he goes and ignores me!

Well no one ignores Madeline Beckett!

I pulled on the webbing. If it was strong enough to hold my weight, it might be strong enough to climb...

No time to lose. Peter might be in trouble. Firmly grasping the webbing with one hand and moving my other hand higher up on the string, I began pulling myself up. And surprisingly, it was working. I guess Peter had to make the material really really strong for what he wanted to do.

I moved quickly, trying not to take too long in case the webbing snapped. I finally managed to make it back up to the window. I had to be careful so that I wouldn't cut myself on the grass, but of course I got one of the palm of my hand.

It wasn't _too_ bad though, so I just ignored it as I leaped over the side of the window. Curiously, Peter and Connors were gone. I saw a trail of the slime that was emitting from Connors, and decided to follow it, because if I decided to follow it, Peter must have too.

I didn't have a weapon on me, since Peter threw my axe out the window, so I had to rely on my wits to keep myself safe. I mean, I'd been doing a decent job so far.

I was so caught up in trying to find Peter that I didn't even notice when I almost bumped into someone. And I was pretty surprised over who it was.

"Mr. Lee?" I asked. It was the old librarian, who was most known for wearing his headset, listening to whatever music. Whenever he had those things on, you could forget talking to him. A whole fight sequence could go on behind him, and he wouldn't even know.

He didn't notice me and kept walking. "Mr. Lee, wait!" I said, grabbing his arm. He finally realized I was trying to gain his attention and took off his headset. I could faintly hear the sounds of classical music as he said, "Yes, dear?"

"Are you okay? The giant lizard was here a few minutes ago! Are you hurt?" I asked, though truthfully, the old man looked unfazed, clutching his brown lunch bag.

He just shook his head and smiled, patting my head. "Oh, you kids," He said cheerfully as he put his headset back on. He had a skip in his step as he turned and walked away.

_Whatever, _I thought, shrugging it off. _As long as he was okay. _

I kept walking until I made it back to the girls bathroom, where I saw Peter starting to enter. I picked up my pace to a run, and he obviously heard my footsteps, because he stopped just before going into the bathroom and turned towards me.

He wasn't wearing his mask anymore, so I could see the clearly shocked look on his face when he saw me run up to him. "What are you doing here? I thought I threw you out the window."

"You know me," I said as I stopped in front of him. "I don't like missing the action."

"Mads," Peter started, but I cut him off.

"Peter, I told you that if I was going to support you being Spider-Man, then I was going to help you," I said. "And I _can_ help you. Just let me stay."

Peter looked like he was going to argue, but he was cut off by the sound of police officers, "We are from the New York City police department. We have this area surrounded."

Peter looked like he wanted to jump off of a cliff, but finally nodded. "You're an idiot, you know that?"

"Yeah, but I'm _your_ idiot, remember?" I said cutely, batting my eyelashes.

Peter rolled his eyes, but I could see the hint of a smile on his lips. "First sign of danger, and you're out of here."

"I can't promise that," I said as Peter took my hand, tugging me inside to the bathroom with him.

We stuck to the walls in case Connors was inside the bathroom, but it pretty much looked unchanged since he first destroyed it. Peter spotted something, nudging my arm. He pointed, and my eyes were drawn to Connors' Oscorp lab coat ensnared in some of the wreckage.

"We're gonna have to go down there, aren't we?" I asked, taking a peek down.

"Yup," He answered, moving towards the hole.

I groaned. "I had to pick today to wear my good boots..."

Peter went down first, so when I jumped down the hole after him, he caught me, just like when I fell out of the tree, or when I jumped out my window.

"Are you okay?" He asked as he put me down.

"Just dandy," I answered. Peter put his finger to his lips, signalling me to be quiet. I nodded, and we started cautiously walking down the sewers.

It smelled worse than Ian's socks after he had a long basketball practice. My room being right next to Ian's, he liked to come into my room with his stinky socks and chase me around. I also had to avoid little puddles so that I wouldn't get my feet wet.

But gentlemen that Peter was, whenever we came across a big puddle, he would pick me up and carry me either across or around, because apparently Peter didn't care about nasty puddles.

"Listen," Peter said as he put me back down. "I need to call Gwen."

"Why?" I asked.

"She's the only one up there, and I need her to make an antidote for Connors," He answered.

I shrugged, pulling my phone out of my skirt pocket (do you have any idea how hard it was to find a skirt with _pockets?_). "Then I'll do it."

"I can do it," He insisted.

I shook my head. "Who's got the spider senses, like hearing?" I asked, and he stayed silent. "Exactly. I'd rather you listening for Connors than distracting yourself with Gwen's voice."

I quickly picked her name on my contact list and waited for her to pick up. It literally rang twice when she did. "Mads? Where are you? Are you okay? And did you find Peter?"

Seriously, sometimes I think that Gwen thinks I actually _was_ a robot. "I'm fine, and I found Peter. But we're in the sewers right now."

"Why are you in the sewers?" She asked.

"Gwen, I promise, I'll explain everything later. Right now, I need your help," I told her, and put the speaker part on my shirt so that the sound would be muffled. "What do you need?"

"I need her to get to Oscorp and run a serum. It's a blue serum, and she needs to get to the cross species file. The number is 12389," He answered, looking back to the front.

"Gwen, I need you to go to Oscorp," I started. "You know how to run serums, right?"

"Mads, I could run a serum in my _sleep_. You know that," She said.

Actually, I don't, but Gwen doesn't need to know that. "Right, sorry, still a little frazzled. Anyways, it's a blue serum, and you need to access the cross species file. The file number is 12389," I instructed.

"What's the serum for, Mads?" Gwen asked.

"It's the antidote to stop whatever Connors is," I replied. "Can you help me?"

"Of course. But after, could I possibly get some answers?"

I looked over at Peter, who surely must have heard what Gwen asked. He hesitated for a second, before nodding.

Oh thank God. I'd hate to have to choose between my boyfriend and my best friend. And knowing me, Gwen would win.

"I promise."

"Then I'm on it."

We both hung up, and I tucked my phone back into my pocket. Just before Peter and I rounded the corner, I stopped him. He turned his head to ask me what was wrong, but I just smiled and kissed his cheek.

That replaced the serious look on his face with a smiling one for a couple seconds. "What was that for?"

I shrugged. "For being you."

Peter smiled again. "Well, that's great, but right now, we have to find Connors. You can thank me for being me later."

The two of us finally made our way around the corner, and I was honestly surprised at the computers and other sorts of technology that was set up. Why was it set up? In a _sewer_? This wasn't the Phantom of the Opera.

Peter stood in front of me slightly and jumped on top of the platform before taking my hand and pulling me up after him. He dropped his bag to the ground, and I followed him as we investigated what was going on.

There was vials of a greenish liquid, along with what looked like an injector sort of thing. I was guessing that was what caused Doctor Connors to suddenly Hulk out on everyone.

"Stay close," Peter whispered to me, and I nodded in response, moving towards Peter slightly more.

For some odd reason, a laptop was set up with the screen on. It looked like it was a recording program, and Doctor Connors' face happened to be on the screen. Peter and I exchanged glances before he cautiously pressed the space bar, playing the footage.

"I spent my life as a scientist trying to create a world without weakness, without outcasts," Connors began. "I sought to create a stronger human being, but there is no such thing. Human beings are weak, pathetic, _feeble_ minded creatures." Well, I felt offended. I kept watching Doctor Connors as Peter looked around the lab more. "Why be human at all when we can be so much more? Faster? Stronger? Smarter?" The images on one of the screens changed so that it showed the clear differences between who was Doctor Connors and who _was_ the lizard. "This is my gift to you."

If this was a gift, I didn't want it.

There was a tip on the screen, and it suddenly zoomed out. I recognized the thing to be a building, and it kept zooming out until it showed a tip. And from the one picture of the lizard, it suddenly started becoming multiples, doubling and doubling until the whole screen was filled.

My stomach dropped as I realized what Connors was planning. "Oh my God," I breathed, sinking slightly into Peter's side. "He's gonna infect the whole city. He's going to change everyone into one of those things!"

"Oscorp," Peter suddenly said, and I whipped my head to face him.

"What are you talking about?" I asked him.

He pointed to a bunch of blueprints that sat in front of the computer on the table. I leaned over his hand to see a drawing of the Oscorp building. "He's going to use the Oscorp building to do it."

"Oscorp," I repeated, and my heart started racing when I remembered a crucial detail about Oscorp. "Gwen! We sent Gwen to Oscorp! Peter, we gotta go after her!" I panicked, starting to run back the way we came.

"Madeline!" Peter said, grabbing my arm to stop me. "I know you want to help, but I draw the line here."

"Peter-" I started.

"No, Mads. I don't want you to get hurt. And I know that you're perfectly capable of taking care of yourself, and I love that about you, but there are some times where you _can't_ protect yourself," He said, and he put his hands on my shoulders. "I'll get Gwen. I'm gonna get you up there, and you are going to go home to your mother and Sara, and keep them safe." Peter took his hands off of my shoulders and went for his backpack.

"But Peter-" I began as he reached for his backpack.

Peter tensed slightly, before turning around and kissing me full on the mouth, stopping any sort of arguments from my side. His kiss said everything that we both were feeling. Desperation, frustration, love. I never wanted this kiss to end.

Unfortunately, it did, and Peter drew back. We were both left a little breathless and he leaned his forehead against mine. "Please, Mads. For me, go home and stay safe."

Everything in my was screaming at me not to lie to him, but I did it. "Okay," I whispered. I pulled back from him and grabbed his backpack. I rifled inside of it until I found what I was looking for. "Now is _really_ not the time for people to be finding out who you are," I told him as I held up his Spider-Man mask.

He moved to grab it, but I hesitated. Instead, I pulled the mask over his head, folding and smoothing the little creases as I did so. Just before I pulled the mask over his lips, I gave him another quick "good luck" kiss. It was short, so right after, I pulled the mask over his lips. "You're going to suck at the whole 'anonymous' thing if people can see your face."

I couldn't see Peter's smile, but I knew it was there. "You said that to me when you found out I was Spider-Man."

"I know, and I still mean it," I said. "But now's not the time to impress me with your vast memory of our relationship. Right now, you've got a city to save."

* * *

Peter started climbing the ladder under the manhole, me right underneath him. He popped the manhole cover up, jumping the last few steps. Then he reached down and pulled me right out. We barely missed getting hit by a car, and he quickly moved us to the sidewalk so that we were safe. I couldn't help but think that that was the second time Peter has saved me from getting hit by a car.

He whirled me around so that I was facing him. "Go home, get your family out of the city. I'll take care of the rest."

"Save Gwen," I told him.

"I will," He promised, giving me a kiss on my forehead through his mask. "Madeline, I want to tell you something-"

My heart skipped at the tone Peter was using. Was he really going to say what I think he was gonna say? Without thinking, I clamped my hand over his mouth, stopping him from speaking. "Oh, no you don't. At least until after we're out of this life or death situation."

"Okay," Peter promised, and after another kiss to my cheek, he ran off.

"And stay safe!" I finally called after him. I don't know why, but I always had to have the last word.

"When am I not?" He called back as he shot out his webs at the buildings and the like so that he could move faster.

Oh man, I could already _feel_ the worry building up in my stomach. And not just for Peter, either.

"Madeline?" Gwen said after I had called her.

I moved away from the screaming crowd so that I could hear her better. "Are you still at Oscorp?" I asked.

"Yeah, the antidote just started cooking," She answered.

"Gwen, I need you to drop whatever it is you are doing and get out of there," I told her.

"Wait, what?" I heard her muffled voice. "Why?"

"Because Connors is on his way to Oscorp and he's not in a good mood," I replied. "He's got this device that he's gonna use to infect the whole city with whatever he's got. Gwen, he's going to turn all of New York City into giant, lizard, mutant freaks!"

"There's eight minutes left," Gwen argued.

I face palmed myself. Sometimes, my best friend and I were too alike. "Gwen, I don't think you get it. People are going to die. Unless you get out of there, so will you. You have to get out right now or I swear to God I'll go there and get you out myself."

"Mads, I'm going to get everybody out," Gwen said, before she hung up.

She just hung up on me! "No, no, no, no, no!" I stuttered, pressing the redial button over and over again. She must have turned her phone off.

"No!" I screamed, kicking the way beside me. I put my hands to my forehead, pushing my curls out of the way. There was only one thing to do.

It was my fault that Gwen was there. I could have stopped Peter from wanting to call her, but I encouraged it. I gave her the instructions, and now it was my fault that my best friend-my _sister_ was in trouble. I turned my head to look down the street where my home was, and then looked forwards to the street that lead to Oscorp.

"Are you going to let your best friend face Connors alone?" Eddie asked from beside me.

"Hell no," I immediately said, and then I took off.

* * *

**TBC...**

**Sorry if this is sort of a cliffhanger! I would write more but I'm tired as hell. At least it's something!**

**I also have a few pieces of news that I am going to release closer to the end of the story! Get excited!**

* * *

**REVIEW RESPONSES:**

_**Narutoske: **_I LOVE MADS AND PETER FLUFF. THEY JUST HAVE THAT SORT OF CHEMISTRY THAT FLUFF COMES SO EASILY. And yeah, they had to talk about labels eventually. I hope you enjoy this chapter!

_**Kam74: **_STOP MAKING ME CRY. HONESTLY IT'S JUST RUDE. NO IT'S NOT KEEP SENDING ME MORE MESSAGES LIKE THIS BECAUSE IT MAKES ME CRY OF HAPPINESS. Do you know that around when my muse started coming back, your review is what helped it along? I cannot thank you enough for that! AND I ABSOLUTELY DON'T MIND LONG REVIEWS, I LOVE 'EM. I'M CRYING ABOUT ALL THE AWARDS STUFF. I literally cannot wait till you read what I have planned for the sequel, it's gonna be great.

_**Nirvana14: **_I LOVE THEM TOO! THEY ARE MY FAVOURITE SHIP TO WRITE!

_**Shannyrox101:**_Mads is a total boss ass bitch. And she is so lucky like God Damn. She didn't even care about Peter in the beginning! BUT LOOK AT HER NOW HAHA.

_**Katyperrylover36: **_I love love love love (infinity loves later) LOVE your reviews! And I love the poster so much, thank you again!1

_**WalkingInAWinterWonderland:**_ I DON'T KNOW WHERE ALL THE FLUFF CAME FROM. IT JUST POURED OUT OF ME LIKE A SHEEP. WAIT THAT'S NOT HOW IT WORKS IS IT.

_**Isabella95: **_Why, thank you! I try to keep to the personalities as much as I can, because I know I don't like it when canon characters are too OOC. I hope I do a good job with Peter and Gwen!

_**Meimei555:**_ I'm sorry this one is almost a month later! I hope you read this with a smile on your face!

_**Hard To Scare: **_THANK YOU SO MUCH YOU MAKE ME WANT TO EXPLODE INTO CONFETTI AND TURN INTO RAINBOWS. Here's more!

_**booklover100: **_Thank you! And I did pretty well on my exams, thank you! I passed all of them! I hope you love this update!

_**saramichellegellarfan1: **_Thank you, that's so sweet! And literally, Mads and Peter are like cotton candy fluff LOL.

_**grapejuice101: **_THEY ARE JUST SO CUTE! HERE'S MORE!

_**Guest 1: **_Here's more! Thank you!

_**Guest 2**_: Thank you so much! Here's your update! :)

_**KnellaLuna: **_You have no idea how happy that makes me! Thank you so much!

_**royalpurple153: **_OH MAN, THANK YOU SO MUCH! THEY ARE REALLY ADORABLE, AREN'T THEY? NOW, NOW JUST IMAGINE...AND I'M JUST SPITBALLING IDEAS HERE...MADS AND PETER WITH CHILDREN.

_**bekkivobekki: **_Reviews like this always make me cry. You kept reading a genre that you don't normally read because of my character. That makes me feel like I'm doing something _right_, and I thank you so much for it!

_**star: **_Here ya go, babe! And there shall definitely be sequels! Unfortunately, we'll have to wait two more years after the Amazing Spider-Man 2 version of BTH because that's how long they're taking to make the third. But have no fear, I have a plan up my sleeve ;)

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**REVIEW! FOLLOW! FAVOURITE! THANKS! STAY TUNED!**


	10. Search and Rescue

**Disclaimer: **I do not own The Amazing Spider-Man! I only own my OC, "Madeline Beckett" and any other characters I make up along the way!

**Author's Note: **I am back again! I apologize in advance for yet ANOTHER cliffhanger at the end of this chapter ;)

Please forgive me.

**Enjoy!**

* * *

If I was going to stay here, I _had _to get into shape.

I swear, I almost toppeled over so many times because of how out of breath and _tired_ I was. But the thought of Gwen being in a room with Connors was exactly what I needed to keep myself running.

And I almost ran right into a scary biker's motorcycle.

Motorcycle! That's it!

He was yelling profanities at me, but I slammed my hands on the handles. "I need to borrow this."

"What?" He demanded. "No way! I gotta get out of here!"

I growled, frustrated that I was wasting time. I put on my best scary face and got really close to the man on the motorcycle. "Listen buddy, my best friend is stuck in the lab where the giant lizard is, and if I don't get to her, then she might turn into what he is."

"Why should I care?" He replied gruffly.

Completely fed up, I grabbed him by the throat, my fingernails sinking into his skin. "You should if you want to see the light of day. Now, get off the bike!"

He actually _listened. _Damn, I must have looked scary. He scampered off of the bike, and I quickly threw myself on. "I'll bring it back, I promise!"

"Lady, you're out of your mind!" He said.

I put my hand on the handles, grabbing the clasps and revving the engine. I turn my head and give him a sweet smile. "I know, isn't it great?"

Then I kick the stand off, and I started driving.

And only then did it occur to me that I actually _didn't_ know how to ride a motorcycle.

I mean, I've ridden Abbi's brother's motorcycle a couple of times, but I was on the back, not riding in front.

Whatever, it can't be much different from riding a bicycle, could it?

I just focused on the road and Gwen and the task at hand as I weaved through the crowds of people. I had to take some alleyways to avoid being detected if I thought that Peter or Connors were around.

I had to avoid Connors for obvious reasons, and I had to avoid Peter because I know for a fact that he'd practically kick my ass for not listening to him and deliberately putting myself into danger.

I wouldn't be me if I actually listened to people.

"You got this, Mads," Eddie commented from the back of the bike. I could practically feel his arms around my stomach, and I leaned into him to give myself more of a stability, even if it was fake.

_I got this_.

And right as I thought that to myself, I didn't notice the turn that was supposed to be coming, and I had to hit the brakes to avoid making contact with the wall. Unfortunately, I was a little too late, and the side of the motorcycle slammed to the wall.

Before I could shatter all the bones in my side, I made the decision to leap off of the motorcycle last minute. Grant it, it wasn't a very _smart _decision, but at least instead of breaking my bones, I ended up with a few scratches and bruises.

I groaned as I looked at the state of the motorcycle. It wasn't destroyed, but it wasn't in perfect condition either. All I know is that I have just lost my ride.

"It's okay," Eddie advised, grabbing my arm and gently leading me out of the alley. "Oscorp's right around the corner."

The word "Oscorp" is all I need to ignore all the pain in my body and for me to start running again. I got to the front doors, but unfortunately, they were locked. Thinking quickly, I ran for the door where all the supplies came in. Luckily, I was able to pry it open and just squeeze through.

Alarms were blaring as I pulled my cell phone out as I ran for the elevators. "Gwen, are you still in the lab?"

"Yeah, I am. Where are you? And why do you sound so out of breath?" She asked.

"I ran all the way here," I said, finally making it to the elevators.

Gwen gasped. "You're at Oscorp? Are you crazy? What the hell were you thinking?"

I slammed my hand on the up button as I said, "I was thinking that my best friend was in this predicament because of me. And if something happened to her, I don't know what I would have done. At least if we both get hurt I'll feel less guilty."

Gwen chuckles as she says, "There's a few minutes left."

"I'll be up there soon," I told her as I desperately pressed the up button.

We both hung up, and at this point, I was punching the button. "Are you serious?" I said aloud as I slammed the button, finally realizing that the elevator was not going to work. Huffing, I spun on my heel and ran for the doors that led to the stairs.

Ugh, _stairs._

I raced up them as fast as I could. I swear, if I get out of this alive, I am going to be taking the stairs at work instead of the elevators to work my muscles.

I wiped the sweat off of my forehead as I pressed on. My cell phone started ringing, and I pulled it out of my pocket and blindly answered. "Hello?"

"Madeline? Where are you?" Shelia asked. It sounded like there was a lot of traffic where she was, so I could only hope that she was attempting to get out of the city with Sara.

"I'm on my way home," I swiftly lied as I passed the fourth floor. "Where are you?"

"Sara and I are just about to leave the house. Captain Stacy told us to get out of the city," She told me. "If you're on your way home, Sara and I will wait for you..."

"No!" I protested. "You and Sara have got to get away from here."

"What about you?"

"It's okay, I can take care of myself," I told her. "Go!"

"If you're staying at the house, go into the basement and don't come out until the police come for you," She instructed. "I'm just sorry that you're not with us."

I'll admit, I felt a little bad for lying, but I had to brush it off. "Now, I have to go, I can barely hear you."

"Alright, be safe! I love you!" Shelia said.

"I love you too," I said as I hung up, stuffing the phone back into my pocket. As soon as I did, I almost cried when I felt it vibrating again. What do you people want from me? I'm trying to stage a rescue here!

"What?" I said exasperatedly into the phone.

"Mads?" Peter said. "Are you home yet?"

"Uhh...sort of," I half lied. Okay, it was a full lie, but Peter didn't need to know that.

"What are those alarms?" Peter asked, and I winced. Crap.

"I don't hear any alarms," I said as I reached the second last floor.

"Mads, do not joke with me right now," Peter said. "This is serious. God, _please _don't tell me you're at Oscorp."

I stayed silent.

"Mads?!"

"You said not to tell you!"

"Madeline! Are you at Oscorp?!" He practically bellowed.

"Uhh...sort of," I said again.

"What do you mean, 'sort of'? You either are or you aren't!"

"Okay, if you want to get technical, then yes, I am at Oscorp," I told him.

"Mads! I told you to go home!" He protested.

"And I chose to ignore you," I said as I reached the final floor. My legs burned, but I ignored them in favour of the thought of seeing Gwen again. "I had to get to Gwen!"

"But I said that I'd get Gwen!" He reminded me. "Did you think I couldn't do it?"

"What? Peter, no!" I automatically said, opening the door that led into the hallway. "Gwen is here because of me, and I didn't want her to face this alone."

"Mads, you have _got_ to-"

A lump in my throat formed as I whispered, "I'm sorry, Peter."

Not losing my nerve, I hung up the phone. I turned it off so that he couldn't call me again. I felt so bad for not listening to Peter, and ignoring him, but I had to make decisions for myself. I would never learn if people kept taking care of me. I just hope that Peter isn't mad at me.

Oh well. Peter would just have to trust my instincts as I trust his.

I would have to trust that that wasn't the last time I was going to hear his voice, and that wasn't the last time he would hear mine.

Though it just might have been. Who knows what's going to happen when I finally do go home.

I pushed those things out of my mind, refusing to even think about them. Maybe if I pretended they didn't exist, they'd just fade from my mind. Hopefuly.

I finally make it to the end of the hallway, where the genetics lab was. I nearly cried tears of relief when I made it, and I fumbled with the door. I still managed to open it, and when I stepped inside, I shouted, "Gwen! GWEN!"

I turned around quickly to lock the doors, and I heard, "Madeline?!"

I whipped my head around, only to come face to face with my blonde best friend. I actually _did _cry when I saw her, and I threw myself towards her.

She ran over to meet me halfway, and we were clutching at each other's backs. I could feel Gwen's hot tears falling on to my shoulders, and some tears of my own stained her white lab coat. I pulled back from her just enough to properly look over her body. "Oh God, are you okay?"

"I'm fine," She sniffled, wiping her face. "But what happened to you?"

"What?" I asked, and my eyes followed hers. I looked down to see my clothes were dirty, ripped in some places, and even covered in blood. Most of it was dried though. I shrugged it off, "Don't worry about me, I'm fine. How's the serum?"

Gwen and I locked hands as she led me over to the serum machine-thingy. "Two and a half minutes."

Suddenly, the whole lab started shaking, as if there was an earthquake happening. I nearly toppled over as the lights started flickering, but I was able to grab the side of a desk and keep myself stable. "Gwen?"

"I'm fine," She said, answering my question before I could properly ask it. Gwen grabbed one of the fire starters before running over to the sprinkler system. "That thing is coming for us," She guessed, stepping on top of the desk. "Mads, you lock the doors and the emergency exits," Gwen directs.

I nodded, running over to the key pad by the door. Gwen set off the sprinkler system as I manually sealed all the doors.

I pushed through the clouds of smoke to find Gwen. "Antidote?" I asked, running back over to her.

She turned her head over to the serum maker. "A minute," She breathed.

I could faintly hear banging footsteps approaching the sealed door. I grabbed Gwen's hand, and ran to find a place to hide. "We don't _have_ a minute."

I found a medical closet, and Gwen and I barely managed to squeeze ourselves in. I wrapped my arm around her, my hand clasping over her mouth to keep her quiet. She was trembling and crying and I tried my best to silently support her. I pressed her more into my side to comfort her, and I fought to control my shakes.

I couldn't see anything, but I definitely heard something breaking through the door, and only one thing was strong enough to break through a steel door like that.

Connors.

There was heavy breathing next, and Gwen and I nearly screamed when he passed by the closet that we were in. They had blinds, so we could clearly see through them. Gwen and I pressed ourselves ever closer to each other, if that was even possible.

Crashing sounds from around the room made me think that he was looking for something, but I couldn't bring myself to peer over and look to see what he was looking for.

Gwen held an ignition canister tightly in her hands. So tightly, in fact, that her knuckles nearly turned pure white. I had just moved to take it from her, only taking away my attention from Connors for literally two seconds, when Gwen let out a piercing, terrified scream.

I turned my head to where she was looking, and I realized _why_ she had screamed. And then, I joined her.

Connors was looking directly at us.

He looked the same as he did, a giant, mutant lizard. But I didn't have much time to dwell on his facial features as Gwen and I both slammed our hands on the ignition cannister's clasp, pulling it down.

It activated it, and the flames ferociously slammed against Connors' body. But the most horrifying thing about the whole thing?

It wasn't affecting him in the slightest.

Both mentally and physically. Literally, Connors just put his hand up against the flames as if they were just a mere inconvenience to him, and instead reached over and grabbed a round contraption that I didn't pay attention to. Hey, a big ugly lizard was right in my face, you would have done the same!

Gwen and I kept the thing on until Connors was out of our sight, and then we turned it off. We both took a second to catch our breaths, before we turned to look at each other. Without saying a word, we threw our arms around each other, crying again. But this time, mostly out of tears of relief that we were still alive.

Gwen and I kept our arms around each other as we cautiously stepped back out of the closet, consistently checking around us for anything out of the ordinary.

"Antidote, complete," The computer rang out, and I could have started crying again. I haven't been this emotional since I saw Titanic.

Gwen ran over to the serum chambers as I tried calling Peter back. I had to see if he was okay. I had to let him know that _I _was okay.

"You really choose now not to pick up?" I grumbled to myself as I tried calling him again.

"Mads, who are you calling?" Gwen asked as she came over to me. "We have to get this to my Dad."

"That would be better in the hands of the person who can actually administer it," I explained. "Spider-Man."

Gwen scoffed. "And you just happen to have Spider-Man's number on your phone?"

Before I could stop myself, I said, "Yes, I do, actually."

"Wait, what?" She asked. "Do you know who Spider-Man is?"

Oh, crap! I really _am _the worst guide ever! I can't even keep the superhero I'm supposed to be helping's secret!

"...No," I eventually said, bringing my phone down so that it was resting on my shoulder. "What would make you say that?"

"Really, Mads?" She asked, crossing her arms. Before I knew what was happening, she lunged for my phone.

"Gwen!" I protested as I held my phone out of her reach.

"Who are you calling, Mads?!" She asked, standing on her tip toes to reach it.

"No fair!" I shrieked. "You're taller than me!"

"It is too fair!" Gwen replied, and yelled in victory as I felt my phone leave my grasp.

"Gwen, don't!" I warned, lunging for my phone, but she was already running, her eyes trying to focus on the name on the phone.

She immediately stopped in her tracks, and I could see the confusion and surprise in her eyes as she turned to face me. "You're calling Peter Parker?"

I snatched my phone out of her hand while she's distracted, turning it off and stuffing it in my pocket. "What the hell, Gwen?"

"You were calling _Peter Parker_?" She repeated.

I refused to look at her as she finally connected the dots. "Peter! He's Spider-Man, isn't he?"

I don't want to say anything wrong, but I'm also afraid of saying something right. Gwen was something that I trusted with my life and secrets, but was she someone that Peter trusted?

_"It's okay,_" I heard Eddie beside me. I wanted to turn my head in his direction, but I fought the urge. _"She's your best friend. Peter will understand. You were supposed to tell her anyways."_

Here goes...well, _everything_. "Gwen, there's no time to explain," I said. What was that? I had planned on just spilling everything, but apparently, my mouth had other plans. I had given her a half truth, and that would have to do for now. "Right now, we got to get this antidote to Peter and get us out of here."

"You're right," She said, and we both immediately started for the exit. We grabbed hands again, and we ran to the stair well that I had taken to get to the lab.

"Get outside, and find your Dad. You need to let him know what's happened so that he and the rest of the police can try and stop Connors," I tell her.

"Wait, 'you'?" She questioned. "You're coming with me."

"I can't do that, Gwen," I tell her, clutching the antidote tightly in my hands. "I have to go after Peter."

"Mads, I've known you were crazy since the day we met, but I had no idea that you were _insane_! I'm not letting you go! At least not without me!" She protested.

"Gwen, there's really no time to discuss this!" I retorted. "I have to go help Peter! I have to!"

"No, you don't! If Peter really is Spider-Man, then he is more than capable of taking care of himself," Gwen pointed out.

"That might be true, Gwen, but I'm not going to be able to leave not knowing if he's okay or not," I said.

"Why?!" She pleaded to know.

I was suddenly feeling _everything_. My fear for Peter's life, Gwen's, my own. My heart constricted at the thought of Peter possibly being in trouble while I sat and did nothing, and my heart did these weird beats as the thought of him hurt crossed my mind. Before I could stop myself, I blurted, "Because I love him, okay?!"

And as soon as the words escaped my lips, I knew they were true. There's no doubting it anymore. All those times that I had doubted Peter's feelings, and my own feelings, I was so blind as to how I was actually _feeling_. I couldn't deny it anymore. If I did, it was going to physically _hurt_.

I had somehow fallen in love with Peter Parker. I mean, I know how I had fallen for him. I'm just surprised that I did.

Tears started forming at the thought that Peter might be hurt and in trouble. "I can't just _leave _without him!"

Gwen just stood in shock for a second, but then a huge smile crossed her face. She squealed, grabbing my arms. "Oh, I knew it!"

"Gwen, this is not the time!" I said, ripping my arms from her grasp. "People's lives are in danger!"

"Right," She said, knocking her fist against her head. "But as soon as this is all over, you are telling me all about it."

I couldn't help the small laugh that escaped me. "Okay, okay!"

Gwen's smile faded, and her mood turned serious, her hand on the door that led to the stair well. "But Mads, how are you going to help Peter?"

I could see Eddie right behind Gwen, his arms crossed, smiling the whole time. And I knew _exactly _what to say.

I started walking backwards, away from the door as I said, "Hey, I'm the guide of Spider-Man. I'll figure it out."

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**TBC...**

**So I hvae decided to be evil and end it here XD**

**I'm sort of dragging out the ending, because I'm still planning stuff for the sequel and I want to jump right into it as soon as this one is done.**

**ANYWAYS! I hope you liked this update!**

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**REVIEW RESPONSES**

_**Kam74: **_Don't laugh at me! I'm very easily influenced! LOL. Anyways, thank you so much for all your kind words! You always make me smile whenever I read your reviews, and your lengthy ones are honestly my favourite. I am just so curious, what makes you think that Mads is so much smarter than Gwen? Gwen seems really smart to me!

AND I'M SORRY ABOUT BRINGING UP THAT MADS HAS TO LEAVE. BUT SHE'S THERE TO HELP GUIDE SPIDER-MAN AND THAT'S ALL. Yes, she does miss her family, but she tries not to think about it too much in order to avoid being sad. And it's just fine that you want her to stay with Peter. So do I! FINE I WON'T TELL YOU IF SHE STAYS OR GOES. I CAN'T WAIT TO READ YOUR REACTIONS THOUGH! ALSO MADS FINALLY REALIZED THAT SHE'S IN LOVE WITH PETER! HOW ABOUT _THEM _APPLES?

_**grapejuice101: **_Literally I was looking at your story earlier and I just put that in there! JUST FOR YOU! I hope you loved this update!

_**Rox Malone: **_Thanks! YOU'RE awesome!

_**Katyperrylover36: **_AWWWW, THANKS! It's so important to me to NOT make my character's Mary Sue's. If you don't mind me asking, what makes you think that's she's not a Mary Sue? And OMG, I'm sorry! Are you okay? (TOO LATE TO ASK BUT STILL). Also, it's the summer. I literally have NOTHING to do but update. I hope you loved this update too!

_**Meimei555: **_YAY I'M HAPPY YOU WERE SMILING! IT MADE ME SMILE!

_**Guest 1**_**: **Well as we can see, she made it to Oscorp. It took her a few tries, but she made it XD. As for if Peter and Madeline, we'll have to wait till the next update to find that out, won't we? And what Peter was going to tell Madeline was somewhere along the line of what she realized this chapter...

_**Guest 2**_**: **AWWWW THANK YOU SO MUCH! Even the simplest reviews like this one can bring me to tears. Ignore me, I'm a hormonal mess. And here ya go! I hope you loved it!

_**Sanamancy: **_YAY NEW FAN! Welcome aboard to the Peterline train! And thank you so much! That means a whole lot! (No, I'm not just saying that. It means the WORLD to me). And I'll cry too! I'M ALREADY CRYING.

_**sarahmichellegellarfan1: **_Hey, it's you again! Thanks! And you caught on ;)

_**Narutoske: **_Thanks! And I know, right? I put in her stabbing Connors because it was such a Madeline thing to do. And she always wants in on the action. It's basically why she's there. As you can see, she will not take no for an answer. Hope you liked this update!

_**WriteToEscapeReality1309: **_Welcome back! THANK YOU SO MUCH! You have no idea how much I love you and your stories. Also, I don't even have words to describe Peterline. They're both idiots, but I think that's what works for them. They have a few issues, I'll admit, but they love each other enough to want to fight through them, even if they have to make some sacrifices. God, Mads and Gwen's friendship is my second favourite thing to write (after Mads and Peter). They're just so...compatible, if you will, as friends. Even though Mads hasn't known Gwen personally long, she feels like they've known each other forever. They understand each other on a level that only sisters can. Gah, sorry for the long reply :) I hope you liked this update! Thanks for reading and reviewing!

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**REVIEW! FOLLOW! FAVOURITE! THANKS! STAY TUNED!**


	11. Closing Time

**Disclaimer: **I do not own The Amazing Spider-Man! I only own my OC, "Madeline Beckett" and any other characters I make up along the way!

**Author's Note: **Just a quick heads up before we get into this chapter! I _do_ shift into third person's point of view at one point towards the end, but you'll probably get when it is. If you don't, it's when Captain Stacy and Peter are talking.

**Enjoy!**

* * *

I am going to barely be able to move tomorrow, that's for sure.

I stuck my head out a window and looked up. My heart sank when I saw Peter and Connors fighting, and it looked like Connors had the upper hand.

Not wasting another second, I clutched the antidote tightly in my hands as I began running for the next flight of stairs. Right next to the door of the stair well was a box with emergency fire equipment, and I spared the few seconds to bust the glass. It was easier to do it this time than it was the last time, and I grabbed the fire ax that was inside.

This one was also a bit lighter in my arms, so I stuffed the antidote into my pocket and began running up the stairs again. The building was still falling apart, and I knew that if I wanted to get out of here, I had to get to Peter, quick. I had to over step a lot more of the broken building, and I nearly kicked at it in frustration. As if I wasn't tired enough already!

I finally caught sight of a small window pane, and nearly fell to the ground when I saw it to be the door that led to the roof. I almost barged in, but I quickly stopped myself as Eddie shouted, "Don't open the door!"

I turned my head to face him and harshly whispered, "Why not?"

"You have to _plan_ your entrance," Eddie explained. "If you run in at the wrong time, it could be game over for everyone."

"But I have the antidote!" I protested. "How am I supposed to know when the right time is?"

Eddie shrugs, and says, "This is where your guiding instinct comes in," Before he, like always, disappeared.

"No!" I whispered, strongly resisting the urge to bang my head against the wall. He really couldn't just _tell_ me the right time?

I peeked through the window, to see Connors just throwing Peter around as if he had the weight of a feather. My poor boyfriend! And to think that _I_ thought I had it bad!

I knew I had to quietly slip in before I was noticed, so I had to survey around the whole roof to find a space to hide when I finally could get through. My eyes landed on the device where Connors had placed his green serum to turn everyone into monsters. A closer inspection revealed that it would take effect in two minutes.

Two minutes! They're really crunched for time in super hero movies, aren't they?

I was brought back into focus as I saw Connors lift up a huge barrel that said liquid nitrogen on it, before he hauled it in Peter's direction. I almost screamed Peter's name, but I clamped my hand over my mouth before I could.

Peter narrowly avoided it, but he let go of the ladder and fell backwards, landing hard on his back. I winced at the thud, and clutched the ax in my hands tighter.

Connors lunged for Peter, but Peter uses his webs to pull himself away from him. The two of them were then on the other side of the roof, so I took that as my opportunity.

As quietly as I possibly could, I squeaked the door open. I kept my eyes on Connors the whole time, and I was able to quickly tip toe to the other side of the roof, hiding myself behind large pieces of rubble.

I kept my focus on Connors as I began creeping closer, ducking out of sight when I felt like I had to. My stomach dropped when I got close enough to see Connors's tail wrapped around Peter's neck, his left claw destroying the right web shooter that was attached to the wrist on his costume. In the same way, he broke Peter's left shooter.

I had to literally hold myself back as Connors forced Peter's wrists into one of Connors's big hands, before he reached up and took Peter's mask off. Peter's face was scratched, bloody, bruised, dirty, and turning blue by the second. The sight of him made me want to just switch places with him.

"Poor Peter Parker," Connors spat. I tried paying attention to find a good opportunity to strike, but my attention was momentarily taken away as my eye caught movement by the door. I decided to let my attention wander for two seconds as I looked over to the door, and was surprised to see Captain Stacy sneakily walking on to the roof. He had a shot gun raised in his hands, it's direction firmly placed in Connors's. His eyes caught mine, and he signaled for me to keep quiet.

"No Mother," Connors started. "No Father. No Uncle," He said. I saw Captain Stacy trying to catch my attention out of the corner of my eye, and he gestured for me to make my way over to Connors. I immediately started shaking my head. I mean, I came here to help Peter, but what if Connors saw me?

Captain Stacy pointed to the ax that I had in my hand, and motioned for me to go over to Connors and try to stab him. Then, he made the motion that he'd give me a signal when.

Well, I've done it before, I could do it again, couldn't I?

I came out of my hiding spot and cautiously walked over to Connors so that I was at his back, positioning myself at his back.

"All alone," He patronized, and if it weren't for Captain Stacy not giving me the signal yet, I would have buried the ax right into his head.

Captain Stacy cocks the trigger on his gun, prompting Connors to look over in his direction. "He's not alone," He declared, aiming the gun at Connors.

Connors started growling at him, and Captain Stacy shot the pipe of liquid nitrogen, and it exploded, the tube coming right out. Peter manages to grab it, and aimed it right at Connors so that it would start freezing him enough for him to let go of Peter. Connors roared, trying to stop the nitrogen. At this point, I didn't even need the signal from Captain Stacy. Not daring to lose my nerve, I swung the ax back, and slammed it right into his side.

He roared again, dropping Peter altogether. Connors looked over in my direction, and I realized just how much trouble I was in. I was about to run away, but before I could, Peter was aiming the tube at Connors again. I caught his gaze, and he probably would have been pissed at me for coming if he wasn't so worried about me. Connors seemed to have forgotten about me, but when he turned around to get Peter to stop, his strong tail knocked right into my stomach.

I screamed as I went flying. I managed to grab the floor of the roof before I could fall right off of it, but I panicked as I felt the strain on my arms. Stupid gravity!

I heard more shouts from Connors and gun shots from Captain Stacy's shot gun as the detonator (is that the right word?) said, "Detonation in t-minus forty five seconds"

Tears streamed down my face as I realized that I still had the antidote. I had to get it to Peter!

But if I let go of the roof (even with _one_ hand), it's game over for me. I'm barely hanging on right now, I _know_ I'm not strong enough to hold on with only one hand. I'll fall faster than Sherlock did.

But...game over for me means saving everyone else. The entire city of New York. My mother. Sara. Captain Stacy, Mrs. Stacy, Gwen's brothers, Gwen. Peter...

That serum is going to defuse in less than forty five seconds.

I took a deep breath as I realized what I had to do.

I wanted to close my eyes as I did so, but I know it wouldn't exactly _help._ I tried getting my hand to grip anything, but it didn't really work.

"PETER!" I shouted, and he immediately snapped his head in my direction.

With a deep breath, I quickly brought my right arm back so that I could reach into my pocket.

I screamed as my balance was disturbed. Now, I was looking down at the streets of New York, where I was going to be headed straight for in a few seconds. Tearing my focus away from it, I blindly reached into my pocket and pulled out the antidote. I reared my arm back, and threw it as best as I could in Peter's direction.

Unfortunately, the sudden movement caused a shift in my movement, and my arm wasn't able to withstand my weight anymore. My scream crawled up my throat as I slipped off of the roof, and began plummeting towards the ground.

* * *

You know how people say that when you die, your life flashes before your eyes?

Honestly, what I was expecting was leading my life out with my family back home. My birth, my childhood, my teen years. I thought I'd be the over enthusiastic family member at Mike's university graduation, jumping up and down and screaming, "That is MY brother!" Or that I'd be the proud only sister of the groom at Paul and Abbi's wedding. Or that I'd be jumping up and down at Ian's basketball game that would guarantee his scholarship at a university. I'd attend university myself, become a reporter, meet and fall in love with someone, preferably from work. We'd move to Los Angeles, have three kids, twin boys and then a girl. I'd live a happy life with my husband, kids, job, and family back home in Idaho, supporting me the whole way.

What I was expecting, though, wasn't what I saw.

What I saw was me and Peter, as kids. I recognized us from some of the pictures that I saw when I first came here. We were playing around in the backyard, my parents and his parents talking by a barbeque as we did so. Then, it was May and Ben Parker with my parents in the backyard, Peter and I playing around in the trees. Peter didn't think that I could climb up it, so I took him up on his dare. I climbed up the tree successfully, and I was in the middle of my victory yell when the branch broke off from under me, not being able to hold my weight. I went crashing to the ground, but I didn't hid the hard surface of the grass. Instead, I had slammed right on top of Peter, who thought that he could catch me. That resulted in Peter breaking his arm, and we invited him and May and Ben over for dinner to thank him. A few years later, it was just Shelia, a newborn Sara, and me. That's around when I started middle school, and I was assigned to sit next to a blonde girl, who introduced herself as Gwen Stacy. We started hanging out a lot, and in the excitement of a new girl friend, I had neglected Peter. And that's when I was brought back to the present; me, standing in the middle of the road that very first day. Peter, knocking me out of the way. Standing up for him at school, and helping him with his injuries later. Comforting him over Ben's death. Telling him that I knew he was Spider-Man. Our first kiss.

I expected it to stop there. But it kept _going_.

Peter and I attended university. Gwen went off to school in England, but visited any time she could. Peter proposing to me, and me accepting. Peter and I got married, with kids following shortly later. Peter was still Spider-Man, but we made it work. Our jobs. A few delicious, romantic moments with each other. Our kids growing up, going to school, getting married. Peter eventually having to give up being Spider-Man because he was too old to carry out the job anymore. The two of us living out the last of our days together...

And that's when I was taken out of the fantasy.

* * *

At first I thought it was Eddie that saved me, because his face was right in front of mine, his wrist wrapped around my own.

But when I shook his face away, and the adrenaline at my almost death began to fade, I felt a sticky substance at the inside of my palm. My vision clears, and I nearly cry tears of relief as I recognized it to be Peter's webbing that just saved my life.

I looked up, and saw the face of the love of my life, tears flooding his eyes as he realized how close he was to losing me. I was a bit upset that he was taking the extra precious seconds to save me, but I wasn't _that_ upset.

Quick as a flash, he pulled on the web, and I felt myself being lifted up. He pulled a little too strongly, and I went up higher than the surface of the room. Before I could scream, I fell right into Peter's arms, right where I belonged.

"I told you to go home!" He practically yelled at me.

I wanted to stay in his arms forever, but once I was safe on my feet again, I pushed him towards the platform that was about to release the rest of the serum. "You can scold me later! Now, GO!" I insisted.

He hesitated for a second, but grabbed my arm and pushed me in the direction that Captain Stacy was in. He ran for the platform, while I stuck to Captain Stacy's side.

Captain Stacy looked over to me for a second, cuts, bumps, and dried blood all over me, before turning his attention back to Connors, whom they had pushed into a corner. He kept shooting at him as Peter raced for the anntenna.

"What are you doing here?" I asked him as he continued to shoot.

"Gwen sent me," He answered. "Said that you went after Peter Parker, and that you two might need some help."

"Detonation in t-minus thirty seconds," The computer alerted us as Captain Stacy reloaded.

Then, to our pure horror, Connors poked his head out of the mist that had formed around him. He lifted his claw that Captain Stacy must have taken his fingers off of, but instead of his hand staying that way, he grew his fingers back.

Should have seen that one coming.

Captain Stacy grabbed me by the arm, and even though I couldn't see his face from behind him, I knew what he was going to do.

"Captain Stacy, don't!" I protested, but it was too late. He pushed me as hard as he could, and I went stumbling in the other direction, away from him and Connors.

I crashed to the ground, banging my head. A headache immediately began to form, but I was able to fight through it as I saw Captain Stacy shooting a few more rounds into Connors. Unfortunately, they didn't work anymore, and Connors just knocked the gun out of his hands.

"Captain Stacy!" I shouted, trying to scramble to my feet. I had a bad feeling I knew where this was headed, and I am going to stop it. I don't care if I wasn't able to stop Ben's death. It was so sudden, I couldn't do anything. But I could tell what Connors was about to do, and there was a shot gun lying not so far away from me.

I lunged for the gun. I grabbed it, but I don't know how to work a shot gun. In the few seconds I had hesitated to figure out how to use it, I was forced to watch in horror as Connors shoved three of his claws into Captain Stacy's side.

"NO!" I screamed, firmly grabbing the gun in my hands. After watching Captain Stacy cock it a few times, I managed to do it myself.

Fighting to see through my tears, I shakingly aimed the gun at Connors, and pulled the trigger. I missed the first time, but when I cocked it again, and pulled the trigger, I managed to hit his tail.

And it didn't bother him at all. I kept doing it until the gun ran out of bullets. But I kept missing because Connors had began to move up the platform, trying to stop Peter.

Tears streaming down my face, I shouted in frustration as I cast the gun aside. Instead, I ran towards Captain Stacy, who was lying down on the ground on his stomach, not moving.

"Oh my God!" I cried, sinking to the ground and gently flipping him over. I pressed my hand over his ugly would, but he cried out in pain as I did so. I instantly brought my hand away, in fear that I was hurting him more than I was helping.

Instead, I cradled his face, my hands stained with his blood. "Just hang in there, Captain Stacy," I pleaded, my tears falling on to his uniform. "Just hang on. Peter's gonna use the antidote to save everyone, and then he's gonna stop Connors, and then we'll get you to a hospital, o-okay? You just hang in there. For your wife, your sons, Gwen."

"Detonation in t-minus ten seconds," the computer alerted us, but we ignored it. Peter had this.

"Madeline," He gasped, his right hand going to where his wound was. He put up his left hand, and I grabbed it, clutching it as if my life force could be transferred from me to Captain Stacy.

I crawled over behind him, and gently grabbed his shoulders. I carefully dragged him over to where some broken rubble was, and leaned his back against it so that he was more comfortable.

"Nine...eight...seven..." the computer rang out.

"That-that boy," He started.

"Don't talk," I choked out. "Don't talk. You need to save your strength."

"That boy of yours," Captain Stacy continued. "Has got a good head on his shoulders. He may be an idiot, but he-he truly cares about everyone. This city. _You_."

"Six...five...four," It kept going.

"Captain Stacy..." I started.

"You know, I've-I've always thought of you as my daughter," He said. "That man that was supposed to be your father...he didn't do his job. I did it for him." He squeezed my hand harder. "You are just as much my daughter as Gwen is."

"Three...two...one."

And at one, there was a giant explosion from up above. Captain Stacy and I both looked up, the both of us praying that Peter had made it in time.

And when the serum exploded into blue particles rather than green, we know that he did. It immediately started spreading throughout the city, starting right here. The particles hit Connors, and he immediately began changing back. That included him losing his super strength, so he let go of the ledge on the anntenna.

He started falling, falling, falling, falling. He crashed into a lot of the rubble, and landed on the roof of the building.

Unfortunately, because Connors had thrown a barrel of liquid nitrogen at Peter and it had frozen over the base of the platform, the metal began to shatter, the platform losing it's stability.

"Peter!" I called up to him in worry.

The platform begins to crumble, and for a second I completely forget about Captain Stacy as it falls over the roof, following a figure.

"PETER!" I called out with worry, my throat beginning to tighten up.

I couldn't see what was happening from where Captain Stacy and I were, so I had to pray that Peter was okay. _Please, please, please _let him be okay.

I held Captain Stacy's hand tighter as I brushed some of his hair away from his face. He took deep, ragged breaths as he said, "Take care of Gwen. And-and your brothers."

My heart lurched as I realized how much I truly meant to Captain Stacy. He didn't see me as just his daughter's best friend. He saw me as his own daughter, Howard, Phillip, Simon, and Gwen's sister. I mattered more to him than I'll ever know. I didn't have the heart to say anything, so I just nodded.

"MADELINE! CAPTAIN STACY!" I heard Peter shout, his voice getting closer.

"PETER!" I shouted back. "OVER HERE!"

My heart soared when I saw Peter. Bruised and bloody, but still alive. He dropped down next to me, giving me a quick one armed hug as he turned to Captain Stacy.

"Hey," Peter said to him, putting his hands out as if he wanted to help, but didn't know what to do.

"Did you stop him?" Captain Stacy asked.

Peter nodded. "Yeah, yeah I did."

"Peter, we've got to get him out of here," I urged.

"Mads is right," Peter said, putting his hand on Captain Stacy's shoulder.

But as soon as Peter tried to move him, he made this horrible noise of pain, so Peter stopped. "Okay, okay," Peter said. "Stay with us. Help is on the way, okay?"

"Just keep breathing," I encouraged.

"Maddie," Captain Stacy said. "Could-could you give Peter and I a second al-alone?"

I was surprised by his request. I looked over to Peter, who just silently nodded. I give Captain Stacy's hand one last squeeze, before letting go, standing up, and going over to the other end of the rooftop so that I couldn't hear what the two of them were talking about. And believe me, it was hard to resist the urge to eavesdrop. But Captain Stacy clearly asked to talk to him alone for a reason, and I just had to respect that.

* * *

"You need to be-you uh, need to be gone when they-when they get here," Captain Stacy told Peter.

"I'm not going anywhere," Peter insisted.

"I was wrong about you, Peter," Captain Stacy told him, thinking back to what Madeline had said when she insisted that Spider-Man was what this city needed, and Peter's previous acts. "This city needs you."

Tightening his hold on the Spider-Man mask, Captain Stacy held it up to Peter. "Here. You're gonna need this."

Silently, Peter took it, and Captain Stacy finally got to what he wanted to talk to Peter about. "You're gonna make enemies. People will get hurt. Sometimes people closest to you. So I want you to promise me something, okay?"

Peter nodded his head without hesitation.

"Leave Madeline and Gwen out of it," Captain Stacy said slowly.

Peter, at first, couldn't believe what he was hearing. He turned his head in the direction that the girl he loved went in, before looking back to Captain Stacy.

"Gwen, is my daughter, so I can speak for her," Captain Stacy explained. "But Madeline...Madeline's father left her when her sister was born. He didn't do the job of a father. So when she met Gwen, I stepped in. I was the one that gave her the love only a father could. I treat her as a member of my family. For all extensive purposes, she's my daughter. I know I don't have the actual _right _to decide what's best for her, but as someone who loves her more than anything, I have somewhat of a right to decide how to keep her safe."

Peter digested everything that Captain Stacy was saying. Keeping himself away from Gwen, he could do. It would be hard, but not that hard. But keeping himself away from Madeline? The girl that he's loved ever since they were kids?

However, Captain Stacy _did_ have a strong point. In fact, Madeline had almost _died_, tonight, trying to get him the antidote that he had her and her best friend create. Peter saw his point.

"Promise me?" Captain Stacy prompted. The thought brought tears to Peter's eyes as he lulled over it. "Can you promise me?"

His throat tighter than he could even express, he nodded.

Captain Stacy nodded, content with Peter's promise. He drew his last breath...

* * *

"_Oh_," I heard Peter moan, and I snapped my head over my shoulder to see Captain Stacy _not moving at all_.

"No," I whispered, more tears beginning to form. I didn't think as I ran back over to the two. I dropped down next to Captain Stacy, taking his hand in mine. "No, no, no, no! Captain Stacy, open your eyes!"

Even as I clutched his hand, I could feel an eery sort of coldness in his skin. And no matter how hard I begged him to open his eyes, he didn't.

I felt Peter's arm around me, and he had to take my hands off of Captain Stacy's hands. I felt myself shaking with my sobs, and I turned my head into Peter's shoulder. I wrapped my arms around Peter, and he did the same to me. We both just sat there for a while, holding on to each other.

I was so relieved that everything was over, that Peter was okay, that New York City would be okay. I'm just heartbroken that Captain Stacy was the price.

What do I tell Gwen? What do I tell Mrs. Stacy? Howard, Phillip, Simon? How am I supposed to go to them and tell them that their husband/father was dead?

For once since I got here, I didn't know what to do.

* * *

**TBC...**

**THIS CHAPTER WAS SO DEPRESSING WHAT THE HELL**

**I didn't mean it to be so sad, trust me!**

**Oh well. What's written is done.**

**How will what Captain Stacy's requested effect our favourite couple?**

**Questions, questions, questions...**

**Don't forget! Madeline's tumblr is madelinebeckett - theofficialguide . tumblr . com (just fix the spaces in between)**

**I just want to let you fabulous people know that next chapter will most likely wrap things up, but hold on!**

**There is going to be a special Alternate Ending to this story! That's right! There shall be TWO ending to Behind the Hero. One will be the real one, and one will just be an extra one. I just thought for a story like this, it'd be fun to do!**

**ALSO! I'm sending my laptop in to get a new battery and a new charger, so I won't be able to update for the next couple of days until it gets fixed! Sorry folks! But just think, once I get it back, two more chapters to wrap things up, and then we'll go right into the sequel, where I have MANY things planned. Like, you won't even BELIEVE it. Okay, one person will, but that's only because I told them and they've been a sort of BETA to this series :)**

**ALSO ALSO! Mads pictured her life with Peter before she almost died! Just leaving that here...**

* * *

**REVIEW RESPONSES**

_**grapejuice101: **_Not ONLY did I end it there, I was MEAN in this chapter! Get used to it, I'm going to be very mean.

_**Katyperrylover36: **_Thank you so much doll! *does a little dance* I love ya! And here is your update! I hope I wasn't TOO mean...but like I said, get used to it. I am NOT afraid to do some things that will get me hated...

No literally, I was talking with a friend of mine that's helping with this story and she keeps calling me evil because of what I'm planning.

I'm not even sorry.

_**NorthWest9: **_I like, _enjoy_ rolling around in your tears. It's FUN to me, which probably makes me sound morbid. But reviews like this always make me happy and encourage me to write and be mean! AND FEAR NOT! NEXT CHAPTER, WE FIND OUT IF MADS STAYS, OR IF SHE GOES! PLACE YOUR BETS, PEOPLE! LITERALLY, YOU'RE ALL GOING TO HATE ME _SO_, SO MUCH WHEN YOU READ IT.

_**Kam74: **_Well, I think it'd be kind of hard right now for them to say it to each other, given that they just watched Mads's best friend's father die right before them. The timing's not right. But I can promise that they'll say it before this story is over, in true Mads and Peter fashion :)

And, are you serious? _Mads was willing to go to a place where she knew there'd be danger to save her friend. _Some douchey biker isn't about to stop her!

And I get what you mean. They're both such different characters, but they relate to each other in a way that it makes sense that they're best friends. The decisions that Mads has to make are pretty different from the ones that Gwen has to make (ie, in this chapter, it was either her life or the lives of the entire city of New York's) so that puts them both on different paths. And hell no, Mads isn't a damsel! Did you see the way she clearly went after Peter so many times after he said not to?

But hell yeah, Gwen Stacy is freaking kick ass! Gwen and Mads are both not afraid to fight for what they want, and I think that really contributes to their friendship.

And like I said, Peter and Mads might not get the opportunity to confess to each other, since so much happens after they defeat Connors. She's only there to help, and then, not a moment later, she's gone, remember?

And about Maddie leaving? Hmm... *taps her chin* I can't wait to see how you react next chapter. _AND _the alternate ending.

_**sarahmichellegellarfan1: **_I hate them too, don't worry. Unfortunately, this isn't going to be the last cliffhanger. And Mads picks the _wrong_-uh, I mean _perfect_\- time to realize that she's in love with Peter, didn't she?

And I don't know. We don't even know if they'll get the opporunity to say "I love you" to each other, do we?

_**Guest 1: **_I DON'T KNOW WHY I STOPPED THERE! I'M A MASOCHIST? And let's be real, it's Peter, he can't be mad at Madeline for more than ten minutes. He's just more relieved that she's safe.

And it doesn't sound corney, I'm right there with you! Here's your update!

_**Guest 2: **_WELL, IT KILLS YOU NO LONGER! HERE'S YOUR UPDATE, AND I HOPE YOU ENJOYED!

_**Narutoske**_**: **Madeline honestly tries her best, but she's pretty good about the whole "secret" thing. And they'd already agreed to tell Gwen, they were just hoping to wait until the threat of Connors was gone. And yeah, Gwen will definitely keep the promise, and I plan to have her more involved.

And you'll just have to see what I do next chapter, and the alternate ending, won't you?

_**Highlander348: **_I TOTALLY AGREE WITH YOU, SISTER! (OR BROTHER, IT'S HARD TO TELL ON THIS SITE). And she loves him! SHE REALLY DOES! SHE FREAKING IMAGINED HER LIFE WITH HIM RIGHT BEFORE SHE DIED! Well, _almost_ died.

And I don't know. Did you read NorthWest9's response? I enjoy tears.

I'm so mean, I need to be stopped.

_**SeekingLove: **_YOU ARE SO SWEET! I'M CRYING. And I _do_ get the jazz. Thank you so so SO much! Here is your update, lovely!

_**Rox Malone: **_Thank you, wonderful person! Here's more, and I hope you enjoyed it!

_**Miss-Understood (LOVE your username, btw)**_**: **AWW, THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!

And I LOVE Behind the Mask too! Fun fact: This story was originally going to be called Behind the Mask. It was actually a tie between Behind the Hero and Behind the Mask, but when this story was still a little thing swimming in my brain, I came across Behind the Mask, and I was like "F**k, I can't use this title anymore". But I like the title Behind the Hero better.

* * *

**REVIEW! FOLLOW! FAVOURITE! THANKS! STAY TUNED, ALMOST DONE, FOLKS!**


	12. Goodbye

**Disclaimer: **I don't own The Amazing Spider-Man! Just my OC, "Madeline Beckett", and any other characters or plot lines I make up along the way!

**Author's Note: **I am like the worst person _ever_. My laptop had been gone for two weeks, and then I went through the worst case of writer's block I've ever had in my life. But today, I forced myself to finish this chapter! And look, it's done!

So hopefully I'll have the alternate ending posted tonight too, but if not, then tomorrow.

SO ENJOY THE LAST OFFICIAL CHAPTER OF BEHIND THE HERO! THANK YOU GUYS SO MUCH FOR GOING ON THIS JOURNEY WITH ME!

**ENJOY!**

* * *

Captain Stacy's funeral took place a few days later. Sudden, I know but Gwen's family wanted this over and done with. And I can't blame them.

Also in the past couple of days, I've been anxiously awaiting Eddie's return to take me home. He hasn't showed up yet, and it's making me feel uneasy. Hell, I can't even sleep properly some nights because I'm so worried. For Gwen, myself, Peter.

Peter's kind of withdrawed from me. Since the night Captain Stacy died, he kind of stopped talking to me altogether. I tried calling him, but all messages went to voice mail, and all my texts went ignored. Eventually, I just marched myself over to his house, pounded on the door, and demanded that he come talk to me. Unfortunately, it was May who answered the door, and she told me that Peter wasn't home.

Which was a total lie, because I could see the light on in his room right before I left.

I didn't press, though. I just thanked May, before I turned around and trudged back home. I wanted so badly to tell Peter that I had no idea how much longer I'd be around, but he won't even answer my calls. This was something that I had to tell him face to face. It's really the only way I could try and communicate with me.

Whatever. That was yesterday night. Today was the day of Captain Stacy's funeral, so Mom dropped Sara off at Daycare before the two of us took a cab to the funeral home.

Gwen told us to get there early, because a lot of people were coming to the funeral. And she wasn't kidding around. There was already a big crowd of people when Shelia and I got there, and it took me a while to find Gwen.

As soon as I spotted her, I went running. She caught sight of me, and she dropped everything she was doing. She ran right over to me. We collided, and Gwen burst into tears.

I comforted her as best as I could as we waited for the rest of the guests to show up. We weren't all that surprised when we saw a few of our teachers, but we both got the shock of a lifetime when we saw Flash Thompson showed up. Flash and I looked at each other once, and we came to this sort of silent agreement not to say anything.

Peter didn't come. I'm not surprised, with the way he was avoiding both Gwen and I like we were the plague, and with the guilt on his face that night, he probably couldn't take it.

What do you know, it was raining that day. I can't control the weather, but I felt like this was gonna happen. Isn't that always the way? A rainstorm on the day of a funeral?

The service was tear jerking, and I cried a few times, even though I didn't know Captain Stacy all that well. Some people went home after the service, and others (mostly just family) went back to Gwen's home. Gwen and I stuck to each other like glue the whole day, and when it finally came time for me to go home, Gwen didn't want me to leave.

"Wouldn't you rather be taking care of your mother and brothers right now?" I asked, standing in the doorway.

Gwen sniffled. "I would rather you help me comfort them," She argued.

Before I could argue again, Gwen grabbed my hands and gave them a tight squeeze. "Please, Mads. Stay. Just for tonight."

So that night, I stayed at Gwen's. And I stayed the next night. And the next night, too. And the next night, and the next night. I kept waiting for Eddie to come and take me away, but I just assumed that he was being nice enough to let me say goodbye.

And when I woke up this morning, I had this weird morning. Like today was the day.

So I packed my things, hugged and kissed Mrs. Stacy goodbye, and told Gwen that I'd be back later that night. I just wanted to get some clothes. I stood in the hallway of the Stacy house, and had to hold my tears back.

Gwen notices everything about me though, and she caught my tears forming. "Mads? What's wrong? Are you okay?"

I wiped at my tears before launching myself at Gwen, wrapping my arms tightly around her. "You are truly the best friend anybody could ever ask for, you know that right?"

And she really was. Gwen Stacy reminded me a lot of my best friend back in my old world, but Gwen had found herself a special place in my heart. Gwen could tell if anything was wrong with me right away, so I couldn't hide anything from her. She was willing to put everyone else before herself, and I admire that about her. I admire her bravery, her drive, her honesty, her intelligence. I loved everything about Gwen Stacy, and Gwen Stacy loved everything about me.

I don't think I could have gotten along as good with Mary-Jane Watson.

I could tell Gwen was confused, but she hugged me back anyways. "I know, and you're not that bad either." She pulled back, staring at me in confusion. "Are you okay?"

"Absolutely fine," I assured her. I tore my gaze away from her, and leaned down to grab my travel bag. "I'll see you later, okay?" I said, turning my back and walking right out the door.

"Okay," Gwen said. "Bye, Mads."

Now that Gwen couldn't see me, I let my tears fall free. "Bye, Gwen."

* * *

When I got home, it had started to rain. Man, I never knew that it could rain so much in New York. Anyways, I ran up to my room, wanting to get there and see if Peter was home.

I dropped my bags to the ground and ran right for my window. I drew the curtains back, and I could see the light on in Peter's room.

That's all I need for me to leave my and room and head outside. I tugged my knitted hat lower on my head because it was moving due to the wind, and stomped my way over to the Parker household. I pounded on the door, and waited for May to answer.

I was planning on blasting Peter all the way to Canada for avoiding me, but I stopped myself as he answered the door.

He just looked so...defeated. Like he hadn't won the fight with Connors and everyone in New York was running around like lizard people. It was like he was...guilt ridden.

I just lost my voice when I saw him. Instead of yelling like I was planning, in a small voice, I said, "Mind if I come in?"

He just slightly nods, and opens the door slightly more for me to walk in. I do, and I don't feel the same warmth as I did when I first walked into the Parker household. I mean, the warmth was still there, it just...changed.

Peter led me upstairs and into his room. I couldn't help but smile as I looked all around it, realizing that this was the first time I had been in his room. "Nice room. Not like how I remember it." Though I don't remember it at all.

Peter gestures for me to sit on his bed, and I do. Things are really tense between us, and I don't like it.

He sat in his computer chair. "How was...uh..."

"Captain Stacy's funeral?" I finished for him, and he nodded appreciatively. I knew there was no way he'd be able to get those words out. "It was nice. They fired rifles. People made speeches. It was nice."

He nodded again. "And how-how is Gwen?"

I gently lifted a shoulder. "Holding up better than I thought she would, I guess. She's just trying to be strong, you know? For her mom and her brothers."

Peter nodded yet again, before getting up and sitting next to me. It looks like he's about to say something, but I talk before he can, "Why have you been avoiding me? Why aren't you answering my texts? I mean, I'm not trying to be clingy or anything, it's just that we were just through something very traumatizing and I wanted to know if you were okay."

He took a deep breath, before he looked over at me, and looked me right in the eye. And his next three words stop my heart. "I love you."

Peter Parker loves me. He is in love with me. I'm speechless. I have no words. How am I supposed to respond to something like that?

Oh yeah, by saying 'I love you' back.

This is it. This is my opportunity to say it before I leave. He needs to know.

"But it's because I love you," Peter started before I could say anything. "That I can't be with you."

Wait, what?

He gave me a sympathetic look. "I don't want you getting hurt. I couldn't live with myself if something happened to you."

I gave him a look. "Peter, if you haven't noticed, I can take care of myself. Who got you the antidote to save the city?"

"But you only helped because I put you in that position," Peter argued. "I don't want to do that to you."

I opened my mouth, before I closed it. Why am I arguing? I came here to do the exact same thing. Break up with him. Maybe...maybe this was the out that I needed.

I took a deep breath, and stood up. "Okay," I said, nodding my head.

"Okay?" Peter repeated, standing up too. "Just like that?"

I threw my arms up in the air, fighting my tears. "What do you want me to say, Peter? You want to break up, and there's nothing I can do."

Peter's eyes are bright with tears, and he fought to keep them back. "I'm sorry, Madeline. But we _can't_ be together."

I squeezed my eyes shut, taking deep, shaky breaths. I had to keep reminding myself that this was _good_, that he was giving me the perfect opportunity to help him let me go.

I opened my eyes, and at first, it's hard to see Peter through my tears. I blinked them back, and took another deep breath. "I'm sorry, too."

I pushed past Peter, making my way to the door. I stopped with my hand on the doorknob. There's one thing that I want to know.

I turned my head to look at Peter. "What brought all this on? You tried to make me leave you and your Spider-Man business alone before, and I was able to convince you not to. What changed?"

Peter didn't answer me as he looked down at his toes. Peter was completely fine with me helping him before...before Captain Stacy died.

"He made you promise, didn't he?" I asked him, my chest tightening. "To stay away from me?"

Peter looked back up at me, but didn't say anything. "I'm sorry," He said.

Okay, I had to leave now, before I started crying in front of him. I wanted to leave with some sort of dignity. I nodded, before finally turning the doorknob. I practically ran down the stairs, and ignored May's calls as I opened the front door and stepped out.

I brought my arm up to try and block the rain as I ran over to my house. I went straight to my room, and began looking all around my room. If I was leaving, could I take some keepsakes with me? Once when Peter and I were hanging out, he took pictures of me. Just pictures of me being silly, me eating, doing homework. The bracelet that Gwen had bought me, even though I begged her not to. Could I take that stuff with me?

I picked up a picture of Peter and I, one that was my favourite. I had my arms wrapped around him, and we were sharing a kiss. I hadn't noticed that he had taken his camera out and snapped a picture of us until I had heard the click, and then I playfully pushed him.

It was when I was looking at the picture that I finally broke down. The tears that were building up in my eyes streamed freely down my face, and I hastily wiped at them, trying to keep myself strong.

But the truth was...I didn't want to leave. All the relationships I had built here were too important for me to just say goodbye to. Gwen was my sister. All I said to her was I was coming back, and I wasn't even going to be going back.

And Peter...Peter was the love of my life. I didn't know how it happened, but it did. I wanted nothing more than to run back to his house and stay in his arms forever, but I can't do that. I can't do it, because we're too different. In terms of which universe we come from, that is.

I felt a whoosh from behind me, and I shut my eyes in anticipation. I took a couple short breaths, before I turned around. "I'm ready."

"Ready to do what?" Eddie asked, and he sounded confused.

Now it was my turn to be confused. "Go...home?"

"What do you mean?" Eddie asked. "You're not going home."

I'm not..._what_?

"What?" I breathed.

"What made you think you were going home?" Eddie queried, crossing his arms.

I couldn't think straight. I _wasn't_ going home? I'd get to stay here? With Peter? With Gwen?

"You told me that as soon as I was done with Connors, I was gone," I said, trying not to let my voice crack.

"No," Eddie said slowly. "I said that as soon as you were good here, you were gone."

"But isn't that the same thing?" I asked him, crossing my arms over my chest.

"What?" Eddie asked, and he looked ready to shake me. "Listen, do you know how many issues of Spider-Man there are?"

I gave him a look. "Does it look like I do?"

He leaned forward. "Over five hundred. And out of all those, Spider-Man makes many enemies. Did you honestly think that Connors was going to be his only enemy?"

I didn't know what to say. I should have seen that one coming. "Uh...yeah?" I answered honestly.

"Honestly, for a smart person, you're pretty stupid," Eddie sighed. "You're not going anywhere. Not for a while."

"Wait, so you're saying that I get to stay?" I asked, my heart ready to take off.

Eddie just gave me a look. "How many languages must I say it in? Is English not good enough? _You're staying here_."

I couldn't help the squeal that erupted out of my chest. I lurched forward and wrapped my arms around Eddie. I laughed, feeling my body shake with giddiness.

"I get to stay!" I cried out. This time, tears of happiness were slipping down my face. I opened my eyes, and they landed on the picture of me and Peter that was on my bedside table, and I'm jolted back into the present. "I have to go tell Peter!"

"Wait!" Eddie said, grabbing my arm before I could run for the door. "You can't tell Peter."

"Why not?" I asked him.

"You're seriously going to tell your ex-boyfriend-" I flinched when he said "ex-boyfriend" "-that instead of going back to the universe where he's a fictional character, you're staying here to guide him?"

I slumped, and Eddie let go of my arm. He _did_ have a point. "So I can never tell him and Gwen who I really am?"

"Not unless it's a life or death situation," Eddie started. "Or until you leave. Telling them is strictly against our rules, and will result in an elimination, effective immediately."

"Elimination, as in?" I said, praying that it's not what I think it is.

"As in you'll immediately be sent back home, and your mind will be erased of the entire experience," Eddie explained. "At least if you properly finish the job, you'll be allowed to keep your memories."

"That's true," I said as I went and sat in the arm chair I had in the corner of my room. I leaned forward. "Hang on. You said that it's against 'our' rules," I started. "Do you mean there's a council-ish thing? What, do you just pluck up random people off of the street and plop them in comic book worlds?"

Eddie thought about my question. "Yeah, pretty much. But not random people. We select the people that the superhero _needs_."

"Wait," I said, standing up. "I didn't expect you to _agree_ with me. Are you telling me that there are other comic book worlds that are real?"

"Comic books, movies, books, TV shows," Eddie rattled off. "The possibilities are endless."

"So, I could have been put into, say, the Hunger Games? Or The Vampire Diaries?" I asked.

"Yes, I suppose, but you aren't needed there," Eddie said, and he put both his hands on my arms. "You are needed right here, right by Peter Parker's side."

I took a deep breath. "You're right. You're absolutely right."

Eddie smiled. "Oh, I know I am. And in about ten seconds, your mother is going to walk through the door, so I'm gonna book it."

I smiled back at him. "See you later, Eddie."

"Bye, and good luck, Madeline."

A whoosh of air, and just as Eddie disappears, Shelia opened my door. "Mads? Are you okay?"

I took a deep breath. "Yeah, actually. I think I am."

* * *

Despite Peter breaking up with me, I knew that I had to deal with those feelings if I still wanted to be here and help him. And I'm okay with not being _with_ Peter, as long as I still get to be around him, and hear his cute laugh, and look at his gorgeous smile...

Okay, maybe not _that_ okay.

I stood beside Gwen as she took some stuff out of her locker. I couldn't help but let my gaze wander over to where Peter was, as his and Gwen's lockers weren't that far apart. I always managed to look away before he could catch me, and I'd pretend to be examining my nails.

After Gwen grabbed her last book, we both turned around to leave. I got a glimpse of the shirt that Flash was wearing, and I rolled my eyes when I saw that it was the Spider on Peter's costume.

Gwen must have seen it too, because she leaned over and whispered, "I still can't believe that Peter is Spider-Man."

"You remember you can't tell anyone, right?" I whispered back. I'd be doing a horrible job at being his guide if I couldn't keep his secret.

"Oh, I remember," She said, and I sighed in relief. "He's a good guy. I wouldn't want to be the person to take down Spider-Man."

"Thanks," I said with a smile.

"Besides, he's my best friend's boyfriend," Gwen stated. "I wouldn't take him down without your permission first."

My smile became more forced. I hadn't told Gwen about my break up. I don't know why, but I just couldn't. I was too happy that I was able to stay with Gwen that I didn't want this to create drama.

We walked into the classroom, and I went to my assigned seat, which happened to be in front of Peter. However, he didn't show up until maybe five minutes into the lesson, which doesn't make much sense to me, because I had just seen him before class had started.

"Mr. Parker, tardy again," the teacher said as he went over to his seat behind me. I couldn't help but squirm a little, but I kept my gaze firmly trained on the blackboard.

"I'm sorry, it really won't happen again, I promise," Peter said as he sat down.

"Don't make promises you can't keep, Mr. Parker," The teacher told him, before she turned around.

I was so focused on trying not to focus on Peter that I almost missed him slightly leaning over and whispering, "But those are the best kind."

I couldn't help the shiver that went up and down my back at his words, and I couldn't help a teensy smile that spread on my face as I thought about one of the promises that he had recently made.

* * *

At the end of class, I grabbed Peter's arm and dragged him into one of the janitor's closets. I switched the light on, before turning to face him. "Someone's very whispery."

Peter cracked a smile, crossing his arms. "Maybe I am."

I took a deep breath, trying not to excite myself. "Did you really mean it?"

Peter just stood there for a few seconds, staring at me. Then, in two strides, he was cupping my face, and his lips were on mine.

I happily kissed him back, dropping my bag to the ground and wrapping my arms around him. I stood on my tipy toes, trying to kiss him as much as I could. He pushed me so that my back was against the door of the room.

He eventually pulled back, and we were both smiling like idiots. Peter gently stroked my bottom lip with his thumb as he said, "Yes. I really meant it."

I sighed happily. Everything was falling together. My heart hammered hard against my chest as I pondered my next thought. Did I dare?

I gulped, and prepared myself to put my heart out there. Even though I was so nervous, my next words fell so easily from my lips. "I love you."

Peter's eyes lit up, and he's kissing me again. "I love you so much, Madeline Beckett," He whispered against my lips.

His lips went from my lips to my neck, and I whispered back, "And I love you too."

* * *

I convinced Peter to come over for dinner (more like Shelia demanded it when she found out that Peter and I were dating) and I had just finished putting on earrings when I heard something behind me.

I whirled around, but saw nothing there. "Eddie, if you're trying to play some sort of joke on me, I swear, it is not the right time and I will _not_ hesitate to push you out my window."

There was no response. I looked over to my window, and saw that it was in fact open, and the memory of me opening before I took a shower came back to me. I went over to it, closing it shut.

"Thank God," A new voice says, and it's eerily familiar. "I was starting to freeze."

I whipped around, only to come face to face with...myself?

"Who are you?" I asked, my heart hammering against my chest.

Other Madeline smirked. "Why Madeline, I'm you, of course."

"No, you're not," I said, covering myself with my arms. "You can't be me."

"And why not?" She asked, turning around to look into my mirror. "We have the same face, the same body build, the same eyes, the same voice," Other Madeline rattled off. She clicked her tongue. "The only thing different about us is that my hair is blonde, and yours is brown."

"Okay, seeing as I know Eddie is a figment of my imagination, you are too," I said, standing straight. "So...begone."

Other Madeline looked at me, before she burst into laughter. "Oh Madeline, it's going to take a lot more than a 'begone' to get rid of me."

"Then what do I have to say?" I asked, walking towards her. "Abracadabra? Hocus Pocus? Get the _hell _out of my room?"

"Well, that's a start," Other Madeline said as she played with her hair.

"What are you even doing here? What are you supposed to be?" I asked, crossing my arms.

She adjusted her bangs, and then turned to face me. "I'm _you_, Madeline. At least, I'm the you that's still loyal to her family."

"What do you mean?"

"Your family back home. You miss them, don't you?" Other Madeline asked.

"Yeah, I guess, but-"

"And you want to go home, don't you?"

"Sort of, but-"

"Then I can take you home," She said. "Me and my council don't believe it's right to take people out of their lives and force them to live another, so we right the wrongs that Eddie and his people do."

"So, you're like the anti Eddie?"

"That's right."

"Then why do you look like me?" I asked.

"Because I'm the part of you that craves going home," She said. "You may shut your feelings down in favour of staying here, but it's still there. You still miss home."

I squirmed uncomfortably. "Of course I miss home. But I'm needed _here_."

"I could always take you back, and wipe your memories of this place so it'll be as if you were never here," She said.

"But I don't _want_ that!" I argued. I shut my eyes tightly closed, and balled my hands into fists. "Just get out of my head!"

"This isn't the last time you'll see me, Madeline," Other Madeline said, and when I opened my eyes again, she was gone.

I breathed a sigh of relief as I looked myself in the mirror again. I carefully adjusted my necklace, but my mind eventually drifted back to what Other Madeline had said.

I'm still loyal to my family. I hadn't done anything to make them think I wasn't.

I mean, I was taken and placed here, not out of my own free will. But, I did choose to be here out of own free will. I could have taken Other Madeline's offer, or gone and blabbed the whole thing to Gwen or Peter, and that would have gotten me sent home for sure.

But I loved it here. I love Peter, and I love Gwen. I loved everything about New York City.

And I wasn't ready to give it up.

A knock at my window brought me out of my thoughts, and I looked over to my window. I rolled my eyes when I saw Peter, hanging by one of his webs. I went over to the window, and opened it.

"You look beautiful," He said, leaning over and stealing a kiss. He held up a bouquet of flowers, and they looked like they had gotten crushed on his way up here.

"Uh, I got these for your mom," He said.

I nodded, looking at the deformed flowers. "Well, I'm sure she'll appreciate the thought."

"They were nicer," He mumbled, before he buried his face into the flowers.

I laughed, bringing his face out of the flowers. "Listen, you need to come in through the front door."

"Why?" He asked.

"What are you gonna say to my mother when you come downstairs with me?" I asked. "That you had used your spider powers to climb through my window?"

Peter grumbled. "I hate it when you make sense."

"One of us has to be the smart one."

Peter moved to leave through the window, and then he stopped. He turned his head so that he was facing me. "Hey. I love you."

I grinned as my heart warmed. "I love you too."

I gave Peter a kiss on his cheek, and then proceeded to push him out the window. Don't worry, he caught himself before he could go crashing to the ground, but he playfully stuck his tongue out at me before he made his way over to the front door.

I ran down the stairs, the smell of my mother's lasagna and garlic bread spreading in the air. Just as I reached the bottom of the stairs, there was a knock at the front. I went over, opened it, and sure enough, Peter was on the other side.

I looked behind me to see if Shelia or Sara were around, and stepped outside, leaving the door open. I cupped Peter's face as I kissed him, and his hands went to my lower back.

We were kissing for what seemed to be an eternity when I heard someone clear their throat. I pulled back, expecting to see Shelia, but got the shock of a life time when I saw a man around my dad's age walking up the drive.

I looked over to Peter, who was flushing red. "Hey, Mr. Beck-"

"Daddy!" I heard Sara, and she pushed past me to run over to the man. He grinned, and leaned down to pick her up, swirling her around in the air.

"David?" I heard Shelia's confused voice as she stepped out of the house.

I looked from Peter, to Shelia, and then to Sara in the man's arms.

Mr. Beckett. David. Daddy.

Was this man my...?

There was a whoosh beside me. "Wish you had accepted my offer yet?" Other Madeline asked.

* * *

**TBH...IN THE SEQUEL!**

**BOOM, SNAP!**

**OH MAN, LOOKS LIKE THERE IS SOME TROUBLE BREWING!**

**THIS STORY SHALL CONTINUE IN...BEHIND THE GUIDE! SO PLEASE LOOK OUT FOR IT, SHOULD BE UP WITHIN THE NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS!**

* * *

**REVIEW RESPONSES**

_**grapejuice101**_: I AM SORRY FOR MAKING YOU CRY. And here is the next chapter! Sorry for the wait!

_**WalkingInAWinterWonderlandxx: **_ I DON'T KNOW WHY I DO THIS TO YOU OKAY. AND I LOVE YOU TOO AND YOU'RE FAB AS HELL.

_**Katyperrylover36:**_ THANK YOU FOR YOUR FEELS AND INVESTMENT IN THIS STORY IT MEANS SO MUCH TO ME!

_**Avalongirl55: **_DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH THAT MEANS TO ME? THIS IS MY VERY FIRST MARVEL FIC EVER! Well, if you're willing to share Peter, here ya go! LOL!

_**sarahmichellegellarfan1: **_OH CONTRAIRE, MA BELLE FILLE! Peter DID break up with her, but they got back together, and she's still here! But I AM going to write an alternate ending where she DOES go home, and you should be excited for that bc all the feels.

_**Kam74: **_IT'S SICK BUT I ENJOY BEING CALLED EVIL. *cyber hugs you back* And I love you too. And I couldn't help myself with the Sherlock thing, okay? LOL. AND SHE IS NOT GOING HOME! ARE YOU HAPPY? And in the alternate ending, she does reunite with her family. AND YOU HOLD A SPECIAL PLACE IN _MY_ HEART, THAT IS FOR SURE :)

_**highlander348: **_I WILL DO AS I PLEASE! I WILL NOT BE CONTROLLED WITH WHAT IS WRONGFULLY PERCEIVED AS MY WEAKNESS.

Sorry I had a Klaus Mikaelson moment over there.

And I clearly don't have it in for Peter, because she's still there, isn't she?

_**stizzy: **_Gah, you're so cute! ALSO DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH IT MEANS THAT YOU ACTUALLY DID CRY? LIKE, I NEVER THOUGHT PEOPLE WOULD CRY OVER STUFF THAT I WRITE AND YEAH I KNOW I'M CHEESY BUT DEAL WITH IT.

AND SHE'S STILL HERE! SHE STILL GETS TO LIVE HER LIFE WITH PETER!

And did you read my other fanfics? That's so awesome of you! And yeah, I have read Behind the Mask (I LOVE IT SO MUCH). And to be honest, I had no idea Behind the Mask existed until after I published Behind the Hero. A friend of mine was going to use the title Behind the Mask for HER Spider Man story, but I had to tell her she couldn't after I found out that there already WAS one called Behind the Hero.

And it's okay! I ADORE long reviews! It makes me feel happy that I was worthy enough for someone to rant!

And congrats on being First Reviewer! ;)

_**Guest 1:**_ Thank you! That truly means so much!

_**Guest 2: **_It's not so much heartbreaking as surprising, don't you think?

_**Thisreadingotaku: **_Thank you! here's the next chapter! :)

_**Meimei555: **_*sobs with you* I FEEL U. And yeah, everyone saw the Captain Stacy thing coming, but did you see her Dad coming back coming? Huh?

And this thing won't come to an end until the sequel!

_**Nightingale23: **_*pushes her laptop off of her lap so she can cry* That is so sweet of you! Thank you for loving Madeline! She loves ya right back! And I've always loved Gwen Stacy, so I didn't want to shut her out of the story. And it's a good thing too, Mads loves Gwen too! And I don't know what I did with the Eddie Murphy thing but I do know that it was a good idea!

And I know, I've always had that problem, but this chapter I was careful not to switch tenses. Hopefully I did a better job this time! Like I said before, I love long reviews, especially if they have constructive criticism, like yours does :)

_**Narutoske: **_She's staying! I mean, did you really think that we could get rid of Mads that easily?

Her and Peter _did_ break up, but she at the time she thought she was going home, and in her mind, it was a good thing. But thank God that's not the case! I would have dropped to the ground and sobbed if I really did that.

No I'm kidding I would have laughed.

_**rebel masquerade: **_I'm not even kidding I take that as a compliment. When your readers hate you but love you, _that's_ when you've done a good job. And thank you so much! It means a huge bunch to me! (that last sentence didn't even make sense wtf).

_**Little Red Foxx: **_HERE YOU GO!

_**Kenzie: **_PLS TELL ME YOU DIDN'T HURT ANYONE WITH YOUR SCREAMING! BUT I LOVE THAT YOU CAN'T EVEN! IT GIVES ME LIFE.

_**Little Red Roses: **_I always love it when people tell me that they at least give my stories a chance, and I'd like to thank you for giving it a chance. And I love that you love it! I LOVE PADELINE TOO THEY'RE ADORABLE LITTLE SHITS.

_**Baraziblondie2: **_You don't know how big of a compliment that is to me. That the love that I write is real. It makes me feel like I'm doing something right! Here's your update!

_**KayKay08: **_HERE IS THE UPDATE! I APOLOGIZE FOR THE WAIT!

_**Spiderman'sgirl1: **_Thank you! I honestly didn't know if I wanted to include that part, but I thought "what the hell?" and stuck it in there to see people's reactions. And no one's made her feel the way Peter does, and she sees him as the one that'll always love her, and he will.

WELL SHE'S STILL HERE, ISN'T SHE? AND THEY'RE STILL A COUPLE!

_**Guest 3: **_HERE IS YOUR UPDATE!

_**Shatteredxo: **_Thank you! I love Mads and Gwen too! I just think that they're really amazing and funny together and team them up, nothing is gonna stop them. And hell yeah, they're totally kick ass! And I wanted to catch that adorkableness of Peter because it's what drew me so much to his character, and I wanted to keep that intact. AND THANKS FOR LOOKING AT MY OTHER STORIES, YOU'RE A DOLL :)

_**passionforwriting24: **_Thank you! AND THANK YOU FOR THINKING I COULD BE AN ANOTHER YOU DON'T KNOW HOW MUCH THAT MEANS TO ME YOU'RE WONDERFUL MAY YOU HAVE EVERYTHING YOU WANT IN LIFE.

_**Just Watch Me Fly: **_All in one sitting? YAY! I love Mads and Peter too! Thanks so much! *draws a circle around you* HEY EVERYONE A WONDERFUL PERSON STANDS IN THIS CIRCLE.

_**FallenStar92: **_I WAS LITERALLY JUST AS FRUSTRATED AS YOU TRUST ME. And yes, I am doing a sequel! There are MUCH things to be done, and a lot of it is Mads's family and stuff, hence the title being Behind the Guide :)

AND FOUR FOR YOUR FALLENSTAR92, YOU GO FALLENSTAR92.

_**Guest 4**_: HON HON HON THE ALTERNATE ENDING IS THE CHAPTER AFTER THIS ONE! I'M GONNA START IT RIGHT AWAY!

*so much hat tipping you drown in it*

* * *

**REVIEW! FOLLOW! FAVOURITE! THANKS! COME BACK FOR THE ALTERNATE ENDING, AND THEN IT'S SEQUEL TIME!**


	13. What If?

**Disclaimer: **I don't own The Amazing Spider-Man! Just my OC, "Madeline Beckett", and any other characters or plot lines I make up along the way!

**Author's Note: **I threw the _worst_ curveball with the David Beckett bomb. David Beckett is my own character, and he's coming into the sequel to stir up some drama!

Letting you guys know, it switches points of view in the middle of the chapter! If you won't be able to tell, it starts when Mads's parents leave, and ends when they come back.

So this is the alternate ending, where Mads _does_ go home.

**ENJOY!**

* * *

I felt a whoosh from behind me, and I shut my eyes in anticipation. I took a couple short breaths, before I turned around. "I'm ready."

Eddie nodded. He stuck his hand out. "It's been a real pleasure, Madeline Beckett."

I grabbed his hand, and shook it. "Right back at you."

"Close your eyes," Eddie said, and I did as he said. As I did, I did a silent thank you.

_Thank you, Eddie, for bringing me here. Thank you for teaching me what it's like to effect a person's life so much._

_ Thank you, Gwen Stacy. Thank you for teaching me the value of friendship, loyalty, and how to pass a Chemistry test._

_ And most of all, thank you, Peter Parker. Thank you for teaching me how to love. Thank you for teaching me what young love _is_. Thank you for letting me be your first love._

_ Thank you for being _my_ first love._

* * *

One whoosh of air around me later, I peeked my eyes open. I was staring up at the ceiling, and all I saw was darkness. I stretched my arms out, and realized that I was lying down on a bed.

My bed. More specifically, my bed back _home_.

I immediately sat up in bed, and switched my bedside table lamp on. When it turned on, the light showed everything in my room. My posters, my closet, my science awards, _everything_.

There was a knock on my door, and it opened without me giving permission. My brother, Paul, poked his head in. "Are you awake yet? Ian's game starts soon, and Mom wants to go shopping a bit before we go."

I choked out a sob as I pushed my blanket off of me and ran to my brother. He was here! Paul was here! I really _was_ home!

I wrapped my arms around his neck, nearly toppling him over. "Oh, Paul! It's you! It's really you!"

Paul pushed me away from him. "What the hell are you talking about?"

I didn't comment on his gruffness. "Is Ian still home? And Mike?"

Paul nodded, pointing behind him. "Mike's with Dad in the backyard and Ian's in his room."

That's all I need to push Paul out of the way and run down the hall to Ian's room. I didn't bother knocking; I just barged in and jumped on to Ian's back.

"Ahhh!" He yelled as he stumbled. He managed to catch himself on his desk. He turned his head back in my direction. "What the hell, Mads? What are you doing?"

"I missed you!" I shouted as I squeezed him as tight as I could.

"Missed me?" Ian repeated. "I was only at Josh's house for ten minutes to pick up my sweater..."

"I STILL MISSED YOU!" I screamed as I practically choked him.

"Mads, get the hell off of me," Ian demanded as he literally pushed me off of himself.

I groaned. "Whatever! I missed you!" With that, I ran out of his room and down the stairs. I went for the back door, opening it, and stepped out into the backyard. And in the backyard was my last brother, Mike, and my Dad.

I went for my Dad first. I ran right up to him, and he was about to ask what was wrong, but I didn't let him as I wrapped my arms around his neck and squeezed tightly.

"Daddy! It's really you!" I said as I stood on my tip toes. I pulled back and pressed a kiss to his cheek. Then, I went over to Mike and hugged him.

"Mikey! I missed you so much!" I gushed.

Mike hugged me back, and I could tell that he and my Dad were exchanging weird glances.

"Look, I know I missed movie night last night, but you've never acted like this before," Mike said as I pulled back.

I gleefully clapped. "Whatever! Where's Mom?"

"I think she's in the kitchen-"

I spun on my heel, and ran back inside to get to my kitchen. My beautiful mother was making cookies as I ran around our island table. "Mommy!" I screamed as I practically tackled her in my hug.

"Whoa," She said as she nearly fell over. "Maddie? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine!" I screamed again as I moved her from side to side. "I'm just so happy to see you!"

Sharon laughed as she pulled back from my hug. She kissed me on the cheek as she said, "Well, I'm happy to see you too, Muffin. Now, go get ready for Ian's game. We're going shopping for a bit first, I need to get a new dress for this ridiculous party your father is making me go to."

I nodded, and ran right back to my room. I went into my closet, so happy to see my own clothes. I changed into a striped dress, and went over to my vanity mirror to start accessorizing.

There's a knock on my door. "Come in!" I called as I put on a pair of earrings.

It's my Dad. He opened the door and poked his head in. "Hey, Cookie. Are you ready?"

I nodded. "Almost."

"Good. Oh, just as a note, Paul's gonna kill you."

"Why?" I asked. I hadn't done anything wrong! I've barely been in my own universe for an hour!

"You were supposed to put the DVD back in the case after the movie last night," Dad explained. "If there are any scratches on the DVD, Paul won't show mercy. Especially since it's his Spider-Man DVD."

Spider-Man. The words hit me like a ton of bricks. _Spider-Man. Peter Parker._

When I left, I hadn't realized that was _really_ going to be the last time I saw Peter. I was honestly hoping that Eddie would prove me wrong and let me stay, but he didn't. I was really home.

Without Peter.

I guess my Dad sensed my sudden mood change. "Cookie? Are you okay? I promise, if Paul so much as tugs your hair, I'll kick his ass right out of the house."

I managed a half laugh. "That's okay, Dad. Really."

He nodded, and then left the room. I went over and sat down on my bed, the information seeping in.

I was never going to see Eddie again. Well, at least the Eddie that _I _knew.

I would never see Gwen again. What am I gonna do without hearing her laugh every day? Seeing her hopeful smile?

But worst of all, I was _never_ going to see Peter again. My heart just split right in to two. My Peter, who always brightened my day. My Peter, who always tried doing what was best for me. My Peter, who I am so in love with...

And I never got the chance to tell him.

Looking back, that's the thing that I regretted the most.

* * *

A few weeks later, I tried getting back into spirit, I really did.

But when you lose the love of your life, it hits you. Hard.

I wasn't myself for a while. I mean, to people who didn't know me well, I was fine behind my perfect mask. But to my family and my close friends, I wasn't fine.

They tried getting me to open up and talk about what was wrong, but I kept telling them that nothing was wrong. They also figured out something was wrong when I suggested that we watch The Amazing Spider-Man on DVD again and I cried whilst watching it.

It felt so weird watching the things unfold on screen after actually _living _it. It made me miss Peter. It made me miss Gwen. It made me want to crawl into a ball and do _nothing_.

But the most alarming thing was when my aunt, the psychologist, came to visit with her husband and two small kids.

I thought it was a friendly little visit, but then she started doing her psycho-babble on me, and I just left the room to go and find my cousins.

They were with Paul, looking through some of the _old_ old comic books that our Dad had given him. Of course, they were looking at Spider-Man. I almost turned around and left, but the smaller boy, Tommy, grabbed my hand forced me to stay.

So I sat down on the ground while he flipped through comic books. I wasn't paying attention that much. That is, until he held up one of the comic books and said, "Maddie, Maddie! Maddie's in the book!"

"I'm _what_?" I repeated as I practically snatched the comic book out of his hand. I stared at the pages, and sure enough, a girl who looked almost exactly like me was in the panels, with Spider-Man. I looked through the rest of the book, and I was still there. And the weirdest part?

Her name was Madeline.

Paul must have noticed the bewildered look on my face. "Oh yeah, I thought it looked like you, too. The name thing isn't too much of a coincidence,

though."

I snapped my head up at him. "What do you mean?"

He shrugged. "Dad's favourite girl for Peter Parker was Madeline Beckett. Always said that since she was his guide, she'd be his guide in his life, too. You already had the last name, so the first name seemed perfect to him. Mom must have thought so, too, because she let him name you that. Before you were born, they always used to say that they were each other's Peter Parker and Madeline Beckett."

My heart hammered as I dropped the comic book. It suddenly felt like I had dipped my hands in acid. I stood up, and bolted out of the room and into the bathroom. I went for the sink, and started washing my hands, as if I could wash away the feeling of the comic book in my hands.

That was _ridiculous_. I thought the whole thing was a dream! I couldn't _really_ have made an impact on the comics, could I?

I ran out of the bathroom and into my room. I practically collapsed onto my desk chair as I pulled it, flipping my laptop screen up. I went on Google, and looked up: MADELINE BECKETT SPIDER MAN.

What came up was a Wikipedia page about Madeline Beckett. I clicked on the link, and read up on Madeline Beckett.

She's known Peter since they were children, but they grew apart as she befriended Gwen Stacy. She and Gwen Stacy became best friends, but Madeline started reconnecting with Peter when she found out his secret about being Spider Man.

Everything about that happened exactly like what happened with me. Except the ways we found out the secret. I already knew he was Spider Man, of course, but Madeline in the comics found out because while she was doing a piece on Spider-Man for her school newspaper, Peter had saved her from falling off of a bridge, and in the process, his mask came off.

She agreed not to tell his secret, and actually started helping him out as Spider-Man. The two of them had a really amazing relationship, and Peter had even given her a promise ring.

However, that all changed, because of Norman Osborne (or rather, the Green Goblin). Something happened to Norman Osborne that made him forget that he was the Green Goblin, but his grief from his son Harry being admitted to a rehab center paired with other stuff is what triggered his memories. So he kidnapped Madeline, and held her at the top of the Brooklyn Bridge, the place that she had discovered Peter was Spider-Man when he first saved her.

Norman used Madeline to lure Peter up to the Bridge, and the two of them clashed. In the process, Norman hurled Madeline off of the bridge. Peter used his web strings to catch her leg, and it worked. She didn't pummel into the ocean.

However, when Peter pulled her up, she was dead. Further Googling about Madeline Beckett's death involved speculation that Madeline had died from the shock of being thrown off of a bridge.

But most of the search results (including Stan Lee's suggestions himself) said that the the whiplash she had received when Spider-Man used the webbing to grab her leg so suddenly is what caused her neck to snap. Peter couldn't have done anything to save her. Either he let her fall and drown, or he used his webbings, which he did.

I pushed my laptop away from me. Did my Dad really name me after _her_? Dying a death so gruesome? Well, not gruesome physically, but emotionally. Peter blamed himself for Madeline's death.

If I had stayed in his world, could that have happened to _me_?

* * *

"Are you sure we should leave?" Sharon Beckett asked her eldest son, Mike. "Dad and I can miss the convention."

"Mom, it's your anniversary," Mike said. "The Jane Austen convention is where the two of you _met_. You go every year. You need to go."

Sharon looked over at her husband, Aaron. "I'm sure that Mike can take care of his siblings, Sharon."

"It's not Mike I'm worried about," Sharon said as she bit her lower lip.

"Mom, we can take care of Mads," Paul said, joining his older brother in the front hallway. "We'll doll her up and take her out for dinner."

"Don't be worried, Mom," Ian said, coming out of the living room. "We can take care of our sister. What do you have to be worried about?"

"I don't know, the three of you throwing another party, like last year?" Sharon said as she gave her son a mini glare.

Aaron wrapped his arm around his wife. "Sharon, the kids'll be fine. Mads will be fine."

Sharon huffed as she gave each of her kids a kiss. "I sure hope so." And with that, the two of them were out the door.

* * *

"Do you think she failed a class and is just not telling Mom and Dad?" Ian theorized as he grabbed a water bottle out of the fridge.

Mike shook his head. "Ian, it's Mads. She's never failed a class in her life, and is very keen on keeping it that way."

"Maybe she got abducted by aliens and possessed by one of them," Paul suggested as he leaned on top of the island table in the kitchen.

Ian shook his head. "No, I don't think so. She'd be acting all demonic and stuff like something out of The Exorcist."

"Maybe it's a girl thing," Mike thought as he leafed through take out menus. "Maybe she's on her period."

"For four months?" Ian asked. "Period's don't even last a week for most girls."

"Maybe she had a fight with a friend and stopped talking to them," Paul guessed.

"If she had, she would have gone bitching to Mom about it, and Mom doesn't have a clue about what's going on with her," Mike supplied.

"Well, then, maybe it's a guy thing," Ian brought up. The thought of some stupid boy crushing his baby sister's heart so badly made him want to go punch a tree. "She could have been dumped by a guy."

"She would have talked to Mom about that, too," Paul said as he drummed his fingers against the table.

"Maybe not," Mike said as he straightened his back. "There's _some_ things that a girl keeps private, and guy things are usually those things."

"So, if she wouldn't tell Mom, who could she tell? Mom's gone to all her friends and asked if they've noticed anything wrong with Mads-they don't have a clue," Ian said.

"Maybe Abbi would know," Paul mentioned. "She's a girl. Maybe she knows."

* * *

One phone call to Paul's girlfriend later, Abbi came into the Beckett house, bags on her arms. A quick peek inside revealed movies, chocolate, candy, and chips.

She dumped all the stuff into the kitchen and marched straight upstairs and into Madeline's room. The three boys leaned their ears on the door and tried to listen in, but they couldn't hear anything-the girls must be whispering.

Maybe twenty minutes later, the door opened, the boys scrambled to push themselves off of the door before they went falling forward. Abbi stepped out, and hustled the boys out of the hallway and into Paul's room.

"Just as I suspected," Abbi said as she turned to face Mads's brothers. "She has a broken heart."

The boys felt a protective anger surged through their veins. "Who's the guy?" Mike asked.

Abbi lifted a shoulder. "That's the problem. She won't give up a name. She said that what happened was mutual, that it had to be done, but she wasn't happy about it."

The three brothers's muscles relaxed. They didn't have to beat anyone up tonight. "If it was mutual, if she wanted the break up too, why is she so sad?" Paul asked.

"She said it had to be done, but she wasn't happy about it," Abbi repeated. "That's all I got out of her. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to put on 21 Jump Street for the two of us to watch."

* * *

My parents came home from their anniversary trip to see me a little bit better. I did feel happier after my girl's day with Abbi, but I was still in a bit of a funk. I refused to watch any Emma Stone movies. The feelings were still too raw.

Summer had started, and my Dad had to go on a business trip for a few weeks to California in July. The good part about it? He could take his family with him.

I'll admit, I did feel better after going to Disneyland (but come on, it's Disneyland), the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and a few of the beaches. But I think the icing on the cake was when my Dad scored tickets to San Diego Comic Con. I think my parents thought that the California experience was going so well for me that they wanted to go all the way. Whatever, if I got to meet Paul Wesley, I wasn't going to complain.

We could only affored to go on two days, even with it being just my brothers, me, and my Dad. The first day we did everything that I wanted to do: panels, pictures, autographs of everyone I wanted to meet (Paul Wesley, Joesph Morgan, Nina Dobrev, Matt Smith, Karen Gillan, and a bunch of other people. Can I get a hell yeah?).

On the second day, we did everything that my brothers wanted to do. Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead, and superhero things.

One of the panels they absolutely wanted to go to was the one for the Amazing Spider-Man 2. They went to everything I wanted to go to, so I decided to suck it up for them.

But I had to go to the bathroom. Like, really bad. So I told my family to go and line up to get seats while I hunted for a bathroom. I quickly did my business, and just as I walked out, I bumped into someone.

I dropped my purse, and it looked like the person dropped their Spider-Man mask. I leaned down and grabbed my bag, as well as the person's mask. "I think this is yours, Mr. Incognito," I said as I stood up back up. My joking smile slipped off of my face when I noticed who the person was.

It was Peter Parker himself.

Well, sort of.

It was Andrew Garfield.

"Shh!" He said, putting his finger to his lips.

I was about to point out that I didn't even say anything when he grabbed my arm, and pulled me into a quiet corner.

"Well, that happened," I said, and my heart was hammering like crazy.

"Sorry about that," Andrew said as he peeked behind him. "I just didn't want you to scream or anything. The last thing I need is to get swarmed after using the bathroom. Why do you think I walk around with the suit on?"

"I didn't think that, but okay," I said. I couldn't help but want to sob. Here he was, Peter Parker, the man himself, but it wasn't Peter Parker. It was his actor.

"Hey, hey, are you okay?" Andrew asked, and I didn't even realize I was actually crying until he brushed one of my tears away.

I furiously wiped at my eyes. Stupid! Crying was stupid! "Sorry, it's not you. It's just...you remind me a lot of somebody. Somebody that I had recently broken up with. I don't know why I started crying."

"If it makes you feel any better, whoever dumped you is obviously missing out on someone great," Andrew said with a smile. "And, I know it's crazy, but you remind me of someone too. Well, not _of _someone. More like...I _know_ you, somehow. What was your name?"

I barely heard his question. I reminded him of someone? Oh, this was ridiculous. "Um, Madeline Beckett."

Andrew scrunched his eyebrows, just like Peter did. Duh, he was the actor. "Hey, there's a character in Spider-Man named-"

"Madeline Beckett?" I finished. "Yeah, I know. My Dad named me after her. I already had the last name, so he thought it was perfect. Spider-Man is his favourite superhero."

"That's cool. So listen, Madeline Beckett, I have to go to the panel now, but I hope I get to meet you again some day. You seem like a really cool girl," He said, and he surprised me when he leaned over and gave me a hug. "You won't be sad forever, Madeline."

I nodded against his shoulder, blinking back my tears. "You know, people have been trying to tell me that forever." I pulled back. "I've been thinking about it a lot. I think I'm starting to believe it."

Andrew nodded. "Good. Everyone deserves to be happy."

"I think so too," I said, and I looked down at the mask in my hands. I cleared my throat and held it out to him. "You know, you're going to really suck at this whole 'anonymous' thing if people can see your face."

Andrew's smile faded. "Hey, that's an exact line from the second movie." He must have noticed my bewildered look. "Oh, damn it. Madeline Beckett being in the movie was supposed to be a surprise. That doesn't matter, what matters is, how do you know the line?"

I lifted a shoulder, a real, genuine smile on my face. "I'm Madeline Beckett, remember?"

Andrew laughed. "Right, right. Listen, I know this seems really _really_ weird, but try and find me after the panel is over. I can try to get you and your family tickets to the premiere of the second movie, if you'd like."

My jaw dropped. "Are you kidding? That'd be so cool!" I gave him a weird look. "We've only been talking for like, five minutes. Why are you doing this for me?"

Andrew shrugged. "I don't know. Like I said, I just met you, but I feel like I've known you forever. I have this gut feeling that we're supposed to be friends." He extended his hand to me. "Friends?"

Friends. That's exactly what I needed.

A friend.

Peter Parker was always my friend before he was anything else to me.

And Andrew Garfield was the next best thing.

I grabbed his hand, giving it a firm shake.

"Friends."

* * *

**TBC...**

**OKAY, I KNOW THE ENDING'S A BIT UNREALISTIC, BUT I THOUGHT IT WAS A GOOD IDEA, OKAY? BESIDES, THIS IS FANFICTION. IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE UNREALISTIC.**

**I am starting the sequel very very soon! (Like hopefully as soon as this is posted).**

**REVIEW RESPONSES**

_**passionforwriting24: **_YOU DON'T HAVE TO WAIT A YEAR! But you'll have to wait at least 4 for the third story, because TASM3 doesn't come out until 2018 -_-. But I'm glad you loved the story! And I'm so excited for the sequel too!

_**grapejuice101: **_A lot of shit is going to go down in the sequel, but I'm so excited for it!

_**sarahmichellegellarfan1: **_Thank you! I won't be saying anything about David Beckett until the sequel. He'll be in the very first chapter, though. I promise!

_**Kam74: **_I WOULD BE SUCH A BITCH IF I SEPARATED THEM. I WOULD HATE MYSELF IF I DID. Blonde Hair Mads is going to be around for a while. She's definitely one of the other obstacles that Mads has to go through and try to work around. I WISH THERE WERE PEOPLE WHO DROPPED US INTO WORDS WHERE WE'RE NEEDED TOO. HONESTLY STEFAN SALVATORE NEEDS SOMEONE AND I THINK THAT SOMEONE IS ME.

And oh my god, if the REAL Eddie read the story it'd be CRAZY. And I enjoyed writing the story just as much as you liked reading it!

_**Avalongirl55: **_Here is the next chapter homeskillet! Mads needs to get used to drama, especially with everything that's going to go down in the sequel. Gwen isn't really in the second movie too much, and I needed something more for my sequel, hence the new developments.

_**Guest 1: **_Yup, I'm back! And I'm back again! I ADORE THEM SO MUCH TOO! Eddie is going to be in the sequel, just not as much. She'd literally be nowhere without Eddie. He's kind of like her Dad/Older brother in that sense. They definitely have more of a friendship bond then most mentors do. AND I INSPIRE YOU?

LITERALLY DON'T SAY STUFF LIKE THAT TO ME OR I WILL NOT STOP CRYING!

I'm glad you loved this story so much!

_**Guest 2**_: David Beckett will be introduced in Behind the Guide.

_**WickedlyMinx**_: Sorry for any confusion, but I made David Beckett up. He's a charcater that's kind of important in the next story.

_**Guest 3**_: SERIOUSLY? THE BEST? I'M CRYING OVER HERE! THANK YOU!

_**LITTLE RED FOXX: **_I PROMISE! I'M GONNA START RIGHT AFTER THIS CHAPTER IS POSTED!

_**Rissa-channn: **_He's not a baddie per se. And The Other Maddie said that because David Beckett is going to stir up drama!

_**Castiel Angel Heart: **_SHEET IS RIGHT, MY FRIEND. SHEET IS RIGHT.

_**Thisreadingotaku: **_SORRY FOR THE CLIFFHANGER! AND THANK YOU FOR YOUR NICE WORDS! YOU'RE FAB!

_**WriteToEscapeReality1309: **_IT'S COOL TO ME! I ENJOY READING YOUR REVIEWS AND LAUGHING AT YOUR FEELS. THANK YOU! YOU'RE SO SWEET I JUST CAN'T.

_**JoselinCastillo'Skywalker: **_Okay, I TRIED looking up what you said since I do not speak...Spanish? But I'm going to assume that you liked the story and are excited for the sequel! I am too! Glad you liked the story!

_**Kenzie: **_IT IS A GOOD THING YOU DID NOT HURT ANYBODY. AND YAY FOR MORE SCREAMING!

_**Iansarmy: **_Thanks! Here's the update!

_**stizzy: **_HELLS YEAH, SHE GETS TO STAY! And nice with the rhyming! And you'll have to read the sequel to find out other Maddie's personality!

ALSO, I COMPLETELY MADE UP DAVID BECKETT BECAUSE HE'S A CHARACATER IN THE SEQUEL. I LITERALLY HAD NO IDEA THAT HE WAS AN UNCREDITED ACTOR AND I PEED MY PANTS LAUGHING SO HARD.

And like I said above, Other Madeline said that because David Beckett is going to stir up some drama.

It's cool if you haven't seen the Vampire Diaries, I would not recommend it at this point LOL. The only reason I'm still watching is for two characters, otherwise the show is complete shit now. And watch the second movie soon! The sequel is gonna be really good!

I LITERALLY LOVE LONG REVIEWS THEY'RE MY FAVOURITE! And the sequel shall be waiting right here for you!

**REVIEW! FAVOURITE! THANKS! STAY TUNED FOR THE SEQUEL ANNOUNCEMENT!**


	14. ANNOUNCEMENT SPECIAL SNEAK PEEK!

**Disclaimer: **I don't own The Amazing Spider-Man! Just my OC, "Madeline Beckett", and any other characters or plot lines I make up along the way!

**Author's Note: **So here's the thing.

There are two stories of mine, Ripples of Reality, and Bloodshed and Rattles that I have decided to catch up on so that when the seasons of the shows come back, I only have to do one episode a week.

So until those two are caught up with, Behind the Guide is going to be postponed. But the good news is, once I'm caught up, I'll be working on nothing _but_ Behind the Guide!

And because of my decision and having to make you wait, I've decided to give you a sneak peek of the first chapter of Behind the Guide!

**ENJOY!**

* * *

**14 DAYS BEFORE GRADUATION**

* * *

"I just can't believe that your Dad would just drop in so casually," My best friend, Gwen Stacy said. "It's _weird_."

"You're telling me," I agreed as I sat up.

It's only weird for me because I literally had zero idea who David Beckett actually _was_. But that's only because I'm not from this world.

And yeah, I said Gwen Stacy.

You might recognize her name from the Spider-Man comics. As a matter of fact, earlier this year, I was dropped into the world of Spider-Man as Peter Parker's guide, where I became impossibly close friends with Gwen Stacy.

And I started dating Peter Parker.

Crazy, right? But it's true. I won't lie-I do miss my family. Something I _try_ to tell my evil alter ego, but she just won't listen _or_ leave me alone.

Yeah, I had an evil alter ego. She's really weird. Also, she's blonde. I would _not _look good with blonde hair.

Recently she's been absent, which is good for me, but it also made me feel a little uneasy. I felt like she was just sitting in some room and plotting my downfall.

Whatever, that's not what I should be stressing about right now.

"Especially after all these years," My boyfriend, Peter Parker, said. It was a few days after Peter and I had gotten caught making out by David, so when I got a free moment from school and my life I invited Peter and Gwen over to discuss these new developments. "Did he say what he wanted?"

"Sara and I had dinner with him yesterday," I told them. "He took us to this big time fancy restaurant. Must have paid a lot for the dinner."

"Then he's after something," Gwen deduced. "What did you guys talk about?"

I thought back to my dinner with David Beckett...

* * *

"You're _what_?" I asked, just to be sure that I had heard him correctly.

"I'm getting married, Mads," He repeated.

"Hold up," I said, dropping my fork. "You think that after disappearing for over six years, you can just come back and win my sister and I over with a fancy dinner just to announce that you're getting married?"

David sighed. "Listen, Mads, what I did...was cowardly. Very, very, cowardly," He said. "But it was what your mother and I both wanted. I didn't want to make a big fuss about it, so I just left."

"Leaving your wife with a new baby!" I said. Even though I didn't know David Beckett personally, that was still a lame thing to do.

"Madeline, I know what I did was wrong," He said. "But your mother and I weren't happy with our relationship. I still pay for child support for Sara. I wouldn't abandon your mother that much."

"Okay," I said. It was still pretty bad, but there was still that. Then why did he cease all communication with me?

I was about to ask that question when I felt whispering in my ear, "You stopped talking to him after he left. Don't make a problem," Eddie Murphy whispered in my ear.

My life just kept getting stranger, didn't it?

Eddie Murphy (or, at least his face) was _my_ mentor in the Spider-Man world. He didn't actually do much (though he got very upset whenever I mentioned that fact), but he did provide a lot of information that I didn't have at my disposal, such as why I've never heard from David Beckett before.

"So," I said, though I didn't know where to go from there. Do I ask about his new fiancee? Or is that weird?

"I'd really like you to meet Amy," David blurted. "Amy is my fiancée."

"And my soon-to-be-stepmother," I mumbled to myself.

"Yes, your soon-to-be-stepmother," He repeated. "She has two kids of her own. One of them is a couple years older than you. That's Luke. She also has a daughter, who's close to your age. That's Isobel."

"So I'm gonna get step siblings?" I asked, and David nodded. Wow. That is a lot to adjust to.

"Yeah. I'd like you to meet them, too. And if it's okay, they'd like to come to your graduation ceremony," He informed me. "I'm aware that this is all very new and might seem rushed, but I want things to get somewhat back to normal. I'm going to be replacing the old Captain at the police station, so I'm still going to be in town. Amy and I have purchased a new house, big enough for everyone. However, I completely understand if I'm moving too fast."

* * *

"Of course he's moving too fast!" Gwen argued. "This man that practically abandoned you and your mother and your sister just sweeps back into town with his new family and thinks that he can make everything okay?"

"That's true," Peter allowed. "But Mads, he's still your Dad. Now, no one is forcing you, but if I were you, I'd give them a chance."

Peter's parents died when he was young, and a little while ago, his Uncle Ben, who was practically his father, was shot and killed. So I guess he knew what it was like missing two fathers.

There was a loud crash from outside, and we all rushed to my window. A quick peek outside revealed a robbery to be going down a bit down the street from where I lived.

Peter grabbed his backpack from the floor. "That's me," He said, and he gave me a quick kiss on the cheek as he stepped out of the window, and used his webbing to literally fly right out of my room.

Gwen shook her head, going over to my bed. "You know, I don't know if I'll ever get used to that," She said. "Him just up and leaving to go save the city."

I shrugged. "It's part of the deal. I've gotten used to it."

"So, what are you gonna do about your Dad?" Gwen asked. "Are you gonna meet his fiancée and her family?"

I sighed. "I guess I'm going to have to eventually. Peter's right, he's still my Dad. It wouldn't hurt to just _meet_ them, right? If they're cool, I'll let them come to graduation. Which reminds me," I said, and I stood up to go over to my desk. I started looking through the papers on my desk. "I _still_ don't have a speech prepared."

Gwen, of course, was our graduating year's Valedictorian, meaning she was the highest graduate at our year. How could she not be? She was amazing in everything. And, not in the jealous way. She's just really awesome.

I was actually our Salutatorian, meaning that I was the second highest graduate. Apparently, before I got here, Madeline Beckett was very involved in school and an over achiever, a lot like how I was back home.

Anyways, this meant that I was to give a speech at the beginning of our graduation ceremony, and then Gwen would take it home with the Valedictorian speech. I was way nervous about it, and me not having anything written down for it certainly contributed to that nervousness.

Gwen gave me a disapproving look. "Madeline, really? Graduation is in two weeks."

"Yeah, I know that," I said as I collapsed into my desk chair. "Whatever. I'm sure I'll be able to whip something up just in time."

Gwen huffed. "Let's hope so."

* * *

**I hope you liked the sneak peek and I hope it's enough to hold you over until I start the sequel!**

**I shall be posting the sequel announcement on this story, so please watch out for it!**

**REVIEW! FOLLOW! FAVOURITE! THANKS! STAY TUNED!**


	15. THE TIME HAS COME

**MY FRIENDS.**

**IT IS TIME.**

**JUST IN CASE YOU MISSED IT**

**THE SEQUEL TO BEHIND THE HERO**

**IS NOW POSTED!**

**GO AND CHECK OUT BEHIND THE GUIDE!**

**WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?**

**GO!**

**-DreamonAlina**


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